The state's Liquor Control Board has been screwing the pooch, Those dumb bastards would go broke selling whiskey in a whorehouse. http://news.yahoo.com/pot-shortages-could-dire-washingtons-stores-201423515.html;_ylt=AwrSyCN4N7BTiFkA_OzQtDMD The only shortage will be Taxable weed!
Been laughing about this for a while. Guess what else they fucked up? They fucked up edibles because the FDA classifies cannabis edibles as "adulterated", which is illegal. $15-$25 a GRAM for FLOWERS with prices peaking around $30 a gram?!?!? They DID say prices could go as low as $12 a gram....but I've never even paid that in my life, so why should anyone else here? Been saying it for quite some time, but people just want to ignore the guys who live in Washington State that speak the truth of what's going on here. Instead, idiots who don't know 5% of the information I've learned want to attack me for whatever reason. Medical prices currently sit between $160-$200 for dank depending on who you go through. Street prices are between $200-$260. "Recreational" supposedly going up to around $400-$500 or more. Would have been so much easier to just let everyone 21+ be able to grow, but no, that's too easy and the state doesn't get taxes. Cannabis shouldn't be taxed. Instead, anyone who wants to who is 21 or older should be able to grow 3 plants in flower and then medical can grow 15 in flower. On top of that, allow everyone unlimited plants in veg or clone. Anyway, I only see recreational possibly doing ok early upon release when tourists and WA State citizens only buy for the novelty to say they did. After the first 2-3 months, the only people buying will be tourists that can't find deals on the street (shouldn't have a problem in a place like Seattle, dealers still near every corner), people who only consume occasionally when they want to relax and dont buy large quantities, but may want to have that tax stamp on their baggie so they don't get harassed in public by LEO, and finally, rich people who don't give a fuck if they're wasting $150 or more on an ounce of weed that is probably lower quality than what they could get about a block down the street from the guy in the rasta hat. That isn't a very big percentage of WA State residents, and its why I believe that this system won't last very long when looking at the big picture. Would love a system that works for everyone (like the one I stated about growing), but the state won't have that shit.
Side note - a woman who is doing a recreational grow and documenting it on another cannabis forum has openly stated that she "has embraced the bug and insect problem in her grow" and isnt going to do shit about it. Then, when most of the product early on is like that, stressed and not taken care of but forced through the process quickly to make a quick buck, it's not going to help anyone. People may be stupid enough to buy that shit once or twice, but there are multiple growers coming out of the woodwork who have never grown cannabis before or did 30+ years ago expecting this to be a walk in the park. This isn't legalization....it's giving the ok to a decline in quality and a huge increase in prices. If I wasn't medical, I'd be buying off the street like all my friends have said they will continue to do. If you want to go on vacation, go to Colorado instead. The people here in Washington running shit are fucking stupid.
The novelty will wear off quick with the high prices. Law enforcement will not want to check for medical paperwork or count plants. Growing is already out of control. I say everyone who can should grow their own and let the states cash cow fall on its face.
80 growers? LOL. looking at $25 a gram. http://news.yahoo.com/bumpy-road-ahead-legal-pot-washington-050913699.html Poor pot stores are sucking, no weed, no growers. I knew the state would fuck it all up!
<tinfoil hat> I get from the article that the issue is too many gold rush type people flooding the state. Everyone thinks they can get rich quick...and that sort of greed diving into the money pit always causes the bullshit to float to the top... </tinfoil hat> they can fix things...will mean new politicians come the next election, but they can do it. B)
Why did they make things so complicated? Bar-coded marijuana wtf? Are they tracking each individual plant?
Yep, they tax/price themselves out of the market leaving so little meat on the bone it will be tough to make money. No money, no jobs. Its not going to be a "Green rush" like Colorado, more like rats in a maze of red tape searching for cheese. No rush about it. The best thing to get started right now is a THC- toxicology quality lab, there 2 in the state.
Here is a good read. I also read last night about the guy that just released real child proof containers. I belive his company will be hitting the s&p next week with a start up of 500k shares. Provide the shovels. No need to break your back digging for gold. SEATTLE (AP) - Pete O'Neil saw Washington's legalization of marijuana in 2012 as a path to retirement, or at least to his kids' college tuition. He's paid tens of thousands of dollars in rent on possible locations for a pot-shop chain, hired lawyers and picked out flooring. But now the nation's second legal recreational marijuana industry is about to start without him. What Happens When a Harvard Engineer Gets Robbed? Sponsored by SimpliSafe Home Security î‚€ O'Neil struck out in Washington's lottery for coveted pot-shop licenses. He has unsuccessfully tried to buy companies that scored a lucky number. In frustration, he's turning what would have been his Seattle retail store into a medical marijuana dispensary. "Our company is bleeding money, and I haven't sold a single joint," O'Neil says. As Washington plows toward the legalization of pot, it's finding that getting the cannabis market off the ground has been even tougher than anyone imagined. Among the frustrated are growers who have been waiting months for permission to start raising their bar-coded plants; advocates who wish more public health messaging had been done by now; and would-be pot vendors like O'Neil who say bad luck, minor oversights on their applications, or errors by state officials have torpedoed otherwise promising efforts. Washington's Liquor Control Board expects to issue the first 15 to 20 marijuana retail licenses July 7, months later than first expected, but it's not clear how many of those shops are ready to open. Board staff said last week only one shop in Seattle is prepared for its final inspection. Randy Simmons, the board's legal pot project manager, predicts a "bumpy road," with an initial shortage of stores and marijuana alike. Many businesses that got lucky in the pot-shop lottery in April have since been disqualified, such as by being too close to schools or playgrounds. Others haven't finished building or made deals to buy pot from licensed growers. "This is a gold-rush mentality and everybody wants to get rich," Simmons says. "Some people just don't have an idea what they're doing - no clue at all. It slows down the process." Pot shortages are certain. More than 2,600 people applied last fall to grow marijuana, but those applications are being reviewed glacially by the board's 18 swamped licensing investigators. Only about 80 growers have been approved, and some won't harvest by early July. Hundreds of applicants haven't even been assigned an investigator. Prices could run more than $25 a gram for the heavily taxed pot - about twice what the state's unregulated medical dispensaries charge - until more growers are licensed, Simmons says. There will be no edibles available. People who want to make brownies, cookies or other pot-infused treats must have their kitchens inspected by the state. Of the two tested so far, one failed - it didn't even have a hand-washing sink. The report on the other hasn't been completed. The board has capped the number of retail stores statewide at 334, but dozens of jurisdictions have banned them, prompting lawsuits in two cities. Colorado, which also voted in 2012 to legalize pot for adults over 21, is bringing in millions of dollars a month while Washington struggles to build its industry. Unlike Washington, Colorado already had a regulated medical system, making for a smoother transition when it allowed dispensaries to begin selling for recreational use in January. Washington has also done more work developing marijuana safety standards. Many industry hopefuls have found Washington's delays maddening. Douglas Taylor spent $230,000 on land for his planned outdoor grow. The payments run $1,600 a month, and he says the board hasn't even started reviewing his application. Meanwhile, he has missed the outdoor growing season - a revenue loss of about $500,000, he estimates. Ed Rhinehart, 58, a retired businessman, counted on being licensed for an outdoor grow by April. He hired four workers, spent $22,000 on a required fence and dropped $10,000 on surveillance cameras. April 15, he laid everybody off. After months of back-and-forth with the board, Rhinehart expects to get his license soon. But he too will have missed the outdoor season. "If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have done it," he says. Many would-be retailers allege missteps by the board. For example, they point to mixed signals about whether officials would allow multiple people to apply for retail licenses using the same address. The board did, and some groups formed numerous corporations to apply myriad times - significantly boosting their lottery odds and prompting complaints they gamed the system. Others say they were kicked out of the lottery because inaccurate measurements placed them within 1,000 feet of a protected area, because board staff misread their criminal history, or because they supposedly failed to turn in complete applications. Simmons says anyone who believes mistakes were made in their removal from the lottery should appeal, and 127 people have done so. But it's unclear what the state will do for them if they succeed. Despite the bumps, others credit the board for its handling of a monumental task. Bob Leeds, who retired from banking and social-services work, is a partner at Sea of Green Farms, a licensed pot-grower in Seattle. His team just finished harvesting 40 pounds - some of the first marijuana that will be legally sold in Washington. "It's the most fun thing I've ever done," he says. "I had never seen a marijuana plant until a year and a half ago. Now I own 5,000 of them."
From the article. For example some rich person who runs a winery , knows the ins and outs of the WSLCB has everything to get started is not going to have as much trouble. In my town a smoke shop selling bongs would do real well with none of the hassles.
That first Quote grinds my gears. I want to offer glass blowing classes for the local people. You know like a poetry shop of bongs. Come in and make your own bong. Don't know anywhere that does that
I spent many years in a machine shop. did lots of welding and gas welding, done everything but gold and glass. I will have to play around with some glass.
I have faith that the market will balance its self. There is always a rush and shortage problem with new industries, it has happened and will continue to happen as new markets open up. But like I said faith in free market...prices will drop as demand changes and things will even out.