[SeniorBuzz]

In the last nine months, about 65,000 people signed up for Colorado's medical marijuana registry. And many have started shopping at the state's growing number of dispensaries.

The booming industry is creating headaches for state regulators, law enforcement and for one other group — Colorado's drug dealers.

A Pot Dealer's Worst Nightmare

To find out what's going on in the marijuana market, you could talk to economics professors ... or law enforcement ... or defense attorneys. But where better to look for experts than a jam-band concert — like a recent show featuring the Disco Biscuits in Boulder, Colo. A group of girls was trying to score tickets, and talking about scoring pot from "the clubs," or dispensaries.

"I haven't bought weed from anyone besides the clubs since I got my [medical marijuana] card a month and a half ago," one says.

Andreana, Rebecca, and Libby might be a pot dealer's worst nightmare — college girls with disposable incomes and medical marijuana cards. (These students, and others quoted in this story, didn't want their last names used.)

"It's just way safer, it's better quality, and ... I don't know, it's just way easier," one of the students says.

"I don't think I've dealt with, like, a drug dealer in, like, months," says another.

So Why Buy From The Black Market?

A year ago, Colorado only had a handful of dispensaries. Today there are hundreds. And the rules of economics usually dictate that as people move into the above-ground market, the underground shrinks. Patrons in Colorado seem to back up that idea. Dealers complain about a bad economy, about losing customers.

But some people are still buying illegally. And they have their reasons: They're comfortable with a dealer, or they don't like the idea of putting their name on a government registry, even one that's supposed to be confidential. And then there are those like a young man who flew in from the East Coast for the Disco Biscuits show and spent the afternoon price-shopping marijuana.

"We found that if you go to a dispensary, it's more expensive," he says. "You go through a buddy, least expensive. Speaks for itself."

There's no consumer price index for pot in Denver, but police commander Jerry Peters has a pretty good idea of the cost. He heads a drug task force in the metro area.

"An ounce of marijuana goes anywhere between $270, $280 to about $400 an ounce... that we're seeing in the different dispensaries," Peters says. "In the black market, though, when ... we buy an ounce of marijuana, it's about 150 bucks."

That's a 100 percent-plus mark-up just to go legit.

For more on this story visit this link.

[Eli Bloom]

dude where's the $150 zips at? jerry peter, HOOK IT UP!

haha no joke! I've been gettin' about $200-250 a zip, black market.

[paint4420]

im still payin 300 for a BM z, but its always good and hes always open, and will continue to be open regardless of the new laws

[trichrider]

that freakin cop is lying through his teeth, or he's been copping Nebraska ditch weed!

[Ganoderma]

he must be talking about bricked mexi weed with crushed seeds

[OjoRojo420]

Not no, but hell NO!

Clippings???

[Hydro-Soil]

he must be talking about bricked mexi weed with crushed seeds

He is... I've seen it.

They make absolutely NO distinction in regards to quality. Mentioning that the average $150 oz is crap... doesn't help their story much.

Stay Safe!

[Easy Skanking]

Yeah that's got to be schwag... they need to get the facts right before they spew garbage quotes to the media!

[Kalicokitty]

Yum yum Mexi brick.

But it is an overall positive article.
Basically they are saying that the legal market is killing the illegal market, and that's what we want people to think.
Less crime

Instead of this "MMJ will only cause more crime, so we don't want it here" crap.