Washington Residents Smoke Way More Weed Than Officials Thought

[CarolKing]

There’s too much product in Washington state, and Marijuana Business Daily tells consumers to expect rock-bottom prices ahead.

• There’s Too Much Cannabis in Washington and Prices Could Plummet
  Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Supply in Washington outpaced demand between July 2014 to November 2015, according to state records, with licensed growers producing about 16,000 pounds more during that period than retail stores sold.

What does that mean for you? MBD says prices may plummet—but you won’t be getting top-shelf quality.

Scores of cultivation companies have gone out of business in large part because of the oversupply issue, said Christopher Macaluso, a longtime cultivator in California who co-founded Canna Group, which provides consulting to cultivators in Northwest states.

Producers are now sitting on a substantial amount of surplus inventory, and the future of many of them is in jeopardy. Some could try to unload low-quality inventory at fire-sale prices, flooding the market and exerting artificial downward pressure on the broader wholesale price.

What's not even mentioned is that folks are probably going into Oregon to price match. Not sure what they are paying in Oregon? It's supply and demand. I go to a dispensary and its $10 a gram, it sounds like recreation is the same price. That's awesome news for someone that's buying for their personal use. Oregon and Colorado could you post what you guys are paying for your legal product? Just curious.
CK

 

[hafalump]

east coast, 300/oz top shelf, sour d, og kush, etc.

 

[gangababa]

...
What's not even mentioned is that folks are probably going into Oregon to price match. Not sure what they are paying in Oregon? It's supply and demand. ...Oregon and Colorado could you post what you guys are paying for your legal product? Just curious.
CK

Oregon here
I have returned not long ago from, a now available to me, local flower cellar (sic) with four grams of four names of varied fames.

With the 25% tax that began days ago, I paid $28.50 ($7.125 g).

There are local bud bodegas offering $5 g flowers. $7 and $8 grams are easy to find and $10-12 is generally the case. Highs are $15-18-20.
I price shop on Leafly and make a list.

New sativa seller signs are suddenly seen on paths to previous pot shops.
I wonder who will drop out first.
The producer potential is perhaps not profitable but is positively prolific.

I consume as a recreational (now regular) customer, but rather be seen as one who consumes religiously.

 

[psychonaut]

Denver prices can be as low as 100$ an ounce. The quality was not as good as the stuff I pay 280$ an oz for in my neck of the woods.

 

[Stu]

I just deleted an entire derail of this thread that was centered around cultivation. We have a rule against that here, so please refrain from further discussion of the topic.

 

[rafarquhar]

What's not even mentioned is that folks are probably going into Oregon to price match. Not sure what they are paying in Oregon? It's supply and demand. I go to a dispensary and its $10 a gram, it sounds like recreation is the same price. That's awesome news for someone that's buying for their personal use. Oregon and Colorado could you post what you guys are paying for your legal product? Just curious.
CK

Portland here. Before the tax hit, there were places I would walk to in downtown where I could get high quality eighths for $30-$35. I haven't been in anywhere since the tax but I've heard that several shops are adjusting their prices to keep them low. I've still seen the $86 ounce billboards. lately I have been buying flowers from friends or coworkers who grew them legally but many of them are scaling back their personal gardens with the incoming new OLCC regulations. friends hitting me at $50/ quarter was nice though

on a larger scale, in the extractions department, it is difficult to get enough quality flower to continuously supply commercial sized concentrate runs, since flowers are in such high demand in Oregon right now. they are the only rec form of cannabis currently allowed.

 

[howie105]

There’s too much product in Washington state, and Marijuana Business Daily tells consumers to expect rock-bottom prices ahead.

• There’s Too Much Cannabis in Washington and Prices Could Plummet
  Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Supply in Washington outpaced demand between July 2014 to November 2015, according to state records, with licensed growers producing about 16,000 pounds more during that period than retail stores sold.

What does that mean for you? MBD says prices may plummet—but you won’t be getting top-shelf quality.

Scores of cultivation companies have gone out of business in large part because of the oversupply issue, said Christopher Macaluso, a longtime cultivator in California who co-founded Canna Group, which provides consulting to cultivators in Northwest states.

Producers are now sitting on a substantial amount of surplus inventory, and the future of many of them is in jeopardy. Some could try to unload low-quality inventory at fire-sale prices, flooding the market and exerting artificial downward pressure on the broader wholesale price.

What's not even mentioned is that folks are probably going into Oregon to price match. Not sure what they are paying in Oregon? It's supply and demand. I go to a dispensary and its $10 a gram, it sounds like recreation is the same price. That's awesome news for someone that's buying for their personal use. Oregon and Colorado could you post what you guys are paying for your legal product? Just curious.
CK

One of the reasons that small business fail is that they lack the resources (money, talent, etc) needed to survive their own start up. Oversupply is just one of their many possible problems (not enough info on the market, competitors or depth of their own resources) but its oversupply on a perishable item so that problem will self correct in fairly short order. After the inevitable initial bubble pop (or series of them) the market will be clearer, the big boys will have moved in, the weak operations will have perished and hopefully the rules and regulations will have harmonized across the country. Hopefully the hobby grower will be left alone, finally.

 

[GingerCrock]

Ofcourse the research isn't valid, i mean, there are lots of job interviews that demand a urin test or some other kind of test. Therefore, people look it up on the net and find how to pass a drug test. I admit, i've done it also, i am a weed smoker and i enjoy it. I followed some suggestions from http://mouthswabdrugtests.com/ and passed my test. I am now working there and everything is going good!

 

[macbill]

Vancouver’s marijuana industry growing like a weed

Recreational sales to the public began July 8, 2014 — and buyers can’t seem to get enough. During the first fiscal year, which ran July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, recreational marijuana sales of $260 million netted the state $65 million in marijuana excise taxes. So far for fiscal year 2016, the state has collected $111 million in marijuana excise taxes from the $580 million in sales, according to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board.

 

[SamuraiSam]

This is what's happening in Washington State's "regulated system" that claims to 'prevent pesticide laden products from reaching consumers' compared to our previous "wild west medical masquerade". Well as one of those organics-only medical growers, this type of thing is absolutely sickening. I'm fed up with 502 employees telling me that 502 is safe or the regulatory agencies are looking out for our health. Fact is our state's testing laboratories exist to produce marketing tools (THC % numbers and other BS) that help to sell pot, and the state doesn't even actively notify customers of dangerous product laced with Eagle 20 so they can prevent their use once purchased. Sickening.

If we're testing products for safety, why not prevent unsafe products from being sold? Or actively recall buds and concentrates found to contain pesticides?

"These contaminated and dangerous products would be immediately swept off the shelves in Colorado and the same needs to be done with these identical contaminated cannabis products in Washington." - Dr. Gil Mobley

"I just got the results from the 37 concentrate and flower products submitted in their tests, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news (again and again and again), but we're totally fucking fucked. Since this legal weed bonanza began, I've written a lot of articles calling attention to the issue of pesticides on our pot, and I've been told by a lot of different people—the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) especially—that I'm beating a dead horse.

Well, 25 concentrate and flower products failed the test. Three out of ten flower samples came up positive for illegal pesticides, while 22 of 27 concentrate samples came up positive for illegal pesticides, many of them at eye-popping levels.

While I'm not the least bit surprised to see popular concentrate products ringing in at tens of thousands of parts per billion (ppb) of banned pesticides, I am pretty goddamn dismayed. Especially when every cannabis producer's website goes on at length about how their products are the purest puff of unicorn farts to ever grace a vape pen. They're not. The levels discovered in these tests are irrefutable evidence that people have been actively spraying their products with some really terrible pesticides."

This is what happens when industry and lobbyists draft legislation.

http://www.thestranger.com/features...2/there-may-be-harmful-pesticides-on-your-pot

"Smith acknowledged the possibility that some unsafe weed may be slipping through the cracks. "If labs are not currently testing for pesticides, it's possible that some [tainted] products are making it to the market," he said."

"To date, the WSLCB has yet to test a single nug of marijuana for pesticides."

Number of WSLCB certified laboratories performing pesticide screens: One.

 

[CarolKing]

In the mean time they are closing our dispensaries. I have been buying organically grown pesticide free cannabis for the last year and a half. My dispensary will be closing this July. The state wouldn't give them a lisence so they will be forced to close. I have been writing my lawmakers for the last 2 years. I have been not heard or responded to.

All the lawmakers see are $ signs. They don't give a shit about anybody's health or well being. I have lost faith. People are going to buy their meds through the medical black market which will thrive or they will be forced to grow their own. I have never set foot in a rec store.

I am so angry that the medical cannabis has been screwed up.

Edit
The next thing we will see is old medical farmers selling in the black market and getting arrested. I go to a medical farmers market and most the vendors (farmers) are over 60. They have been growing medical cannabis for 20 or 30 years. They don't know what they will do.

 

[macbill]

I live on the boarder between WA and OR. My mj license expired 2/16, and I don't believe I'll bother trying to renew. At least Oregon markets are easily accessible to me.

 

[grokit]

The only reason I keep my med card is in case we ever open a dispensary, or if a state with dispensaries enacts reciprocity. Or the reciprocal of that, meaning states with reciprocity opening dispensaries.

That plus the fact that it only costs $20 a year to keep it, as long as I'm going to the doc anyways.

 

[CarolKing]

I may get another medical card mine is expired in May. I'm not sure if medical patients will be offered medical grade cannabis vs rec quality? I will save 10% off the tax that the rec folks will pay which isn't much.

Medical patients can have 3 ounces of cannabis per month. I don't use that much vaporizing but if I wanted to make edibles I would need that much. I do make coconut oil every few months. I would like to explore growing but my husband isn't thrilled with that idea. So I'm holding off about that for now.

I don't have a good picture of what the medical cannabis stores will look like. I am nervous about the quality of the products though.

 

[SamuraiSam]

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/20...xt-about-last-weeks-pesticide-testing-results

In last week's post, I urged readers to check the results against Oregon’s standards and decide for themselves what was disturbing and what was merely shrug-worthy. I wish I’d had this lovely spreadsheet that Brad Douglass, of the Werc Shop, put together. It lists all the pesticides involved and their associated "action levels," all in the same units as the Trace test results. Please, please, please compare the test results I posted last week to this reference before you jump to any conclusions. Also, read Bruce Barcott's excellent summary of the issue for Leafly News. He's got a great section on what we do and don't know about the actual health risks of pesticides on pot.

While there were definitely some results that were cause for concern, the real focus here should be on improving the regulatory systems in charge of consumer safety so we don't have to think about this shit. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board’s (WSLCB) current system of regulating pesticides offers us no official method to differentiate between growers who are putting the health of their customers at risk and those who are merely the victims of incidental contact.

Worse yet, until Trace Analytics came online, none of the state's certified cannabis testing labs even had equipment to test for pesticides. Every one of them I talked to said it was because the state didn't require growers to get pesticide testing or perform any of its own. In lieu of testing, the WSLCB relied on its non-retail enforcement team to check on farms. That team made it to only about a third of the state's licensed growers for a return visit, with many of those visits being scheduled in advance. Any grower doing something shady, therefore, would easily have been able to hide the evidence. As good as the state's zero-tolerance system sounded in theory, it was both wrongheaded and unenforceable.

That system is indeed totally fucking fucked. It needs to be fixed. Calling attention to the system’s problems is the first step to fixing it.

Over the weekend, at a Cannabis Organization of Retail Establishments (CORE) mixer, shop owners across the city told me that WSLCB inspectors had been visiting their shops to buy random samples of product for pesticide testing. Tomorrow, at long last, the board will sit down to issue emergency rules on pesticides and product recalls. Labs and growers across the state are working closely with the WSLCB to set reasonable action levels for pesticides, and more labs are coming online to do testing within weeks. The tangled ball of Christmas lights is finally getting unraveled. And that, my friends, is exactly the response I hoped for by shining a bright light on these issues.

 

[macbill]

Police: Illegal marijuana business booming despite legalization
Drug detectives say alleged marijuana traffickers from out of state have started moving into ...inconspicuous family neighborhoods -- renting them out because of the unassuming backdrop. Despite legalization, experts say it is part of a shift in the ever booming black market marijuana business in both Oregon and Washington.

 

[MinnBobber]

Police: Illegal marijuana business booming despite legalization

................................................
Well, duh.
They tax the piss out of legal MJ so prices stay high and then act surprised that illegal MJ is still around.

States need to stop looking at legal and med MJ as the giant cash cow that they can milk dry.

To me, cannabis is a wellness supplement and should be totally untaxed like vitamin pills or a daily baby aspirin. With low enough legal pricing, the illegal grows wouldn't happen

 

[macbill]

“It’s Been a Long Time Coming” Admits State's Chief Pot Regulator, Announcing Pesticide Reform

The state is going to start conducting its own tests on pesticides, with help from the Department of Agriculture.

 

[CarolKing]

I am dreading this July. I have been able to buy organic medical cannabis from farmers at a medical cannabis farmers market. I am able to choose from maybe as much as 100 different strains. Top quality flowers from most with a wide arrange of prices. You can buy premium or mid grade. You can even get shake for cooking. The farmers are there to answer any questions.

There are also edibles, lotions and concentrates. It's been heaven compared to a couple years ago during the black market days. I'm not sure what the new system will look like? I'm hoping for quality and decent pricing. I don't know if that will happen? There definitely won't be the choices. Many dispensaries will be closing. I've been so spoiled.

I need to get my medical card renewed in May. I think I will go a head and do that. I was thinking not renewing it but changed my mind. I'm going to stock up the last couple months. I think I will look into more containers with the Boveds packs. It stresses me out thinking about it.

 

[SamuraiSam]

I love Bovedas. They help keep my home grown nice for a long time, if you put them in before the bud gets dry they keep it moist and prevent the terpene loss that happens when the herb dries out;

If you have a large amount, use a large container like a big C vault that you keep the majority in, and transfer a week's worth or so at a time to a smaller container. This prevents opening of your main containter too often, which wil force the boveda's to work harder and wear 'em out faster.

Also very useful if you make rosin, having the buds properly hydrated is nice. This way i can press fresh rosin two months after harvest,

 

[GetLeft]

The state is going to start conducting its own tests on pesticides, with help from the Department of Agriculture.

Pesticides. Shit. I'm guessing the black market will be the depository of all that for better or worse once regulators figure out they should be involved.

I happened to do a very entertaining rec dispensary visit while in wa not long ago. Got a real kick out of being able to buy a g of my choice at what I considered to be reasonably priced and satisfying product. Hadn't realized the pesiticide issue was out there. I'm not a gardner. Take that back. Wasn't.

 

[macbill]

Legalization of marijuana in Washington had no effect on teens' access to drug

Despite concerns that legalizing marijuana use for adults would make it easier for adolescents to get a hold of it, a new study in Washington State shows that teens find it no easier now than before the law was passed in 2012.

Yeah. It was easy before, and remains easy.

 

[macbill]

Low-cost highs: Price of legal marijuana plunges in Washington state

As of March 2016, the price of legal marijuana in Washington was $9.32 per gram, the Washington Post reported, citing data from the state’s Liquor and Cannabis board. The wholesale price of the drug was $2.99 per gram.

 

[CarolKing]

UW study: state-licensed marijuana canopy enough to satisfy recreational and medical markets
Deborah Bach
News and Information

May 12, 2016
The amount of marijuana allowed to be grown by state-licensed producers in Washington is enough to satisfy both the medical and recreational marijuana markets, a University of Washington study released today finds.

The state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) tasked the UW-based Cannabis Law and Policy Project (CLPP) with calculating the “grow canopy,” or square footage, required to supply the state’s medical marijuana market as it becomes folded into the state’s retail system, as required by the 2015 Cannabis Patient Protection Act. The group’s report estimates that between 1.7 and 2 million square feet — or the equivalent of 30 to 34 football fields — of plants is needed to satisfy the medical marijuana market, and concludes that the 12.3 million square feet of canopy currently approved by the LCB is enough to supply the state’s total marijuana market.

Medical marijuana dispensaries must either obtain a state license or close by July 1, 2016. Of the 343 retail stores licensed by the LCB, approximately 81 percent have sought endorsements to their license to sell marijuana to authorized medical patients.

“It was important to design this study the right way and engage in careful empirical research reaching out directly to medical dispensaries and growers across the state,” said Sean O’Connor, principal investigator for the report, CLPP faculty director and Boeing International Professor at UW Law.

CLPP Executive Director Sam Mendez described the survey process: “There’s no master list of these dispensaries, so we used a variety of resources to identify as many as possible. Once the survey was complete, we applied the findings to other published research regarding averages of marijuana output per square foot, outdoor and indoor growing market share and amounts used for edibles and concentrates to reach our estimates.”

The report found that:

• There were an estimated 273 medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington in January 2016
• Dispensaries sell an average of 9.55 pounds of marijuana flower monthly
• The average price of marijuana per gram sold by these dispensaries is less than $10
• Marijuana flower comprises 60 percent of sales at dispensaries, followed by concentrates (22 percent) and edibles (18 percent)
• The potential market value based on 10 million square feet of canopy is more than $8 billion

 

[GetLeft]

This seems like scary stuff to me CK. The state slotting 'virtuously' into the medical side of things, pretending to be careful overseers, but in reality encouraging overproduction then using overproduction as a means of sqeezing out competition. "No room for private market here. The State has things covered." Be prepared. Programatic overproduction caused that $10 gram. Once the State controls the entire market prices will rise for all consumers. WA got an early jump. The State will be able to suck up both licencing fees and taxes from both the rec and the med side of things before the private market had a chance to react. Hopefully the private sector is on its game and will, state by state, cull better markets for private businesses.