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Massachusetts prices: retail vs black market

OldCoolSativa

Well-known member
I'm out-of-tough with the cannabis market here in Mass because I have not yet set foot in a dispensary, nor have I bought weed on the black market for a few years since I started growing my own. Just out of curiosity, how much is good flower going for in dispensaries and in the black market?

I like to grow 20-week sativas. Are pure sativas available at any dispensaries in Mass? If they are, is there a price premium to reflect the longer flowering time and production cost? Are pure sativas generally available on the black market?
 

zachrockbadenof

Well-known member
Veteran
my buddy brought down some mass bud - average...at best... as to sativa's ...never say never...BUT... u will never find sativa in mass....what grower is going to grow weed for 20weeks, when he can do 2 (plus) grows in them 20weeks... and try to sell sativa's airy/wispy buds when the jar next to it has rock hard indica's...

sativa's are only grown by home-growers..
 

Green Squall

Active member
I'm in the same position really - haven't been in a dispensary and am out of touch with the black market, but I browse the dispensary websites occasionally out of curiosity. 8ths are around $50, so not cheap. About Sativas, Alternative Therapy Group in Salem claims to have Durban Poison, but who knows if its the real thing.
https://atgma.org/
 

zeke99

Active member
Dispensaries prices are black market prices from 1997. It's fucking hilarious.

There is only one open in Boston (Brookline). Lines out the door every time I drive by.

https://netacare.org/locations/neta-brookline/

1/8ths for $50, ounces for $300 - Flower prices are set across the board at this place.

They've got Moonshine Haze, marked as a Sativa, on the current menu.

As for the place mentioned above in Salem, I've sampled the goods. Not sure that I trust any of these menus as far as the actual identity of the strain.

The "Girl Scout Cookies" that I sampled was nothing special.

Black market prices are lower. Tons of stuff from growers in Maine. I think that's where most of the black market bulk weight comes from.

Hope this helps. Feel free to follow-up with more questions. I live in Boston and talk to a few people.
 
If you can avoid them, stay away from the dispensaries. They are run like typical big box retailers, large staff and all are woefully uninformed. I looked into employment....lets just say the second you show real knowledge/experience they run away from you.

All of them push THC% as indicator of quality. I bought an 8th of supposedly 29.5% and it was junk. A different 8th from a different grower had a nasty aftertaste. I can taste the butane in all the BHO I've tried. Gummies bitter.

There is some sativa out there, I've seen C99, durban, herer, few others offered. But all things considered, I doubt the authenticity of their origin claims. Even if it's real it isn't grown/cured/stored properly.

Prices...40-45 for half gram shatter....wax grams about the same price...8ths from 45-50 selection varies wildly daily.....a lot of cartridges and distillates are well above 60...some places have purchase limits so check each one. Then the 20% tax at the end just to make the experience even more painful for you.
 

Amynamous

Active member
Fwiw, i would expect that since real estate prices are so extremely high in Boston, that dispensary prices are probably higher there to make up the additional expense. I also expect that the rich peeps that live and/or work in Boston will pay whatever the price is. As for quality, etc, considering the most popular beer in the country is budweiser, what do you expect the average bud quality to be?
 

CaptainDankness

Well-known member
Even California doesn't have pure Sativa available for the most part, which is a little troubling since southern California should be great for growing pure Sativa. I mean shit I've been watching these assholes talk about how great their climate is meanwhile they grow shit we can grow in New England. lol, only people really killing the Sativa's are in Australia it seems. Between Bushgrower and Kangavita them dudes grew huge Sativa trees, thankfully Kanga is finally out of prison and should be selling some of his genetics in a year or so. I really can't wait, dude probably has better Sativa than Shantibaba, shit Shantibaba got at least one strain from him.



But yeah you have to get really lucky to find a pure sativa and it will probably only be on the black market. I do keep most of my sativa for myself, but I have sold some. It's just not worth it to grow it indoors just to sell it cause very few people are really willing to pay less.
 

zeke99

Active member
Fwiw, i would expect that since real estate prices are so extremely high in Boston, that dispensary prices are probably higher there to make up the additional expense. I also expect that the rich peeps that live and/or work in Boston will pay whatever the price is. As for quality, etc, considering the most popular beer in the country is budweiser, what do you expect the average bud quality to be?

Check the NETA link that I posted.

Prices are the same in Western Mass. as they are at their Brookline location.

I think the Commonwealth is setting price thresholds? Someone can fact check me on that.

There is very little competition as of yet, which also comes into play. The Commonwealth has been slow-walking the licenses for the non-medical stores.
 
There are definite price fixing game being played. The state is completely paranoid about someone dumping supply into the chain and crashing prices. When i see pricing variance, usually the higher prices have the tax worked into the listed price. State is not happy with national brands coming in and buying up companies like what just happened to Sira, bigger companies will drive prices down.

What makes me shake my head is the prices for adult use vs. medicinal. Adult use sales are allowed to be for profit, med sales are nonprofit under the law. But look at a company with licenses for both types of dispensary, and you will see identical prices charged for adult use and medicinal. There is just no way that med sales are non-profit. At least the state doesn't charge the massive tax to sick people, only real difference IMO.

Then there's issue of seed to sale being used. Med patients all over are complaining about available med supply. Law requires 35% of supply to be set aside for med if you have dual licenses. Med patients being told "we are sold out of our med supply shatter, if you want some stand in the rec line and pay 20% tax." Total joke.
 

yardgrazer

Active member
For whatever it's worth (maybe something) there's a pretty searing piece on mass live (one word) about ^this very issue. It's not a Boston outlet, but maybe it'll draw peoples' attention to the issue.
 
Patients are starting to look at black market again, many are pissed at the money games being played by the dispensaries and the state. They have to pay to register with the state just to get scraps at the table.

Tough to read how popular home grow is in this area. Go into any grow shop on a sat afternoon and it's dead right now, you'll be the only one there. 2 years ago it would be a zoo. I only have HTG and nehydro to shop from now that my fav shop closed a year ago. Big boys crushed the small players and now no one is selling anything.
 

CaptainDankness

Well-known member
Patients are starting to look at black market again, many are pissed at the money games being played by the dispensaries and the state. They have to pay to register with the state just to get scraps at the table.

Tough to read how popular home grow is in this area. Go into any grow shop on a sat afternoon and it's dead right now, you'll be the only one there. 2 years ago it would be a zoo. I only have HTG and nehydro to shop from now that my fav shop closed a year ago. Big boys crushed the small players and now no one is selling anything.
Grow shops don't mean nothing, I'm north of y'all and I drove over 2 hours to buy my first grow lights from HTG about 10 years ago. I've bought equipment and nutrients off the internet exclusively since, they did open a hydro store nearby but I get my Promix cheaper from the hardware store and equipment and nutrients are cheaper online.



I kind of felt bad walking out of the nearby hydro store empty handed, they just don't have the inventory. Of course, everyone I know that smokes weed in MA, buys it and I'm looking at years in prison!! Ungrateful bastards!! LMAO, honestly I would still grow a lot more than 6 plants anyways.
 

yardgrazer

Active member
Buying quantity I'm paying way less on the unregulated market (basically half as much). And I've paid a pretty penny for dispensary herb that wasn't very good.

Have also had some good stuff, expensive, but quality.
 
Grow shops don't mean nothing, I'm north of y'all and I drove over 2 hours to buy my first grow lights from HTG about 10 years ago. I've bought equipment and nutrients off the internet exclusively since, they did open a hydro store nearby but I get my Promix cheaper from the hardware store and equipment and nutrients are cheaper online.



I kind of felt bad walking out of the nearby hydro store empty handed, they just don't have the inventory. Of course, everyone I know that smokes weed in MA, buys it and I'm looking at years in prison!! Ungrateful bastards!! LMAO, honestly I would still grow a lot more than 6 plants anyways.

I get as much as possible online too, too cheap not to. I miss being able to stop into green path in northboro to pick up odds and ends, socialize a bit with familar faces. And the years of gardening experience that you could leverage.

I did get some GSOGxMOB that was grown by Sira that was actually pretty decent from a rec dispensary nearby. But then I got some Dream Lotus from the same place, grown by Sira, and it was immature and leafy. So even same store, same grower it's a crap shoot.

Read the labels carefully, Dream Lotus around here can vary from 18-25% THC, for example. Gives an idea at least if it is immature/pulled early.
 
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