Is is me or do some growers in Cali actually not want pot legalised??

[SickBoyZap]

(Taken from my post on another thread)

I fully understand both sides of this. Well name calling is not called for, I feel the frustration that people are experiencing. This isn't just a product- IT'S A WAY OF LIFE- A 'CULTURE'!

I wouldn't put 'financial gain' over people's freedom either. But it doesn't have to be one or the other!

If anyone with half a brain applied themselves right now THEY CAN DO ANYTHING UNDER OUR CURRENT LAWS! I know many "bushy old growers" who have dedicated a great deal of their life to perfecting their art. And, like it or not, The powerful Tobacco industry is putting A HELL OF A LOT OF 'MONEY' OVER MANY GROWERS 'FREEDOM' TO MAKE A LIVING!

As Johnny Lydon (PIL) said: "big business is very wise". We need to beware of who we are getting in bed with! If your fine with the Walmart model of cheap crap pushing out Craftsmen and Artisans, than fine.

Right now Californians consume between $870 million and $ 2 billion worth of medical marijuana per year! That's where Phillip Morris & Big Tobacco's love comes from!

IT IS AN AMAZING HOMEGROWN INDUSTRY THAT HAS BEEN BUILT BY HARDWORKING GROWERS IN SHEDS, CLOSETS AND BASEMENTS EVERYWHERE! PEOPLE WHO HAVE ENDURED RIDICULE, ISOLATION, 3AM RESERVOIR CHANGES AND MIDNIGHT TRASH DUMPS!

WE BUILT IT!

Again, that's where Phillip Morris' love comes from!

Where are the Moonshiners of the 20's and 30's who claimed their product was too 'refined and superior' to be massed produced? WHERE ARE THEY?! They could never have imagined how lucky we are right now! By not being completely legal- the prices remain high enough to provide a living. By applying and using the laws that exist- NOBODY HAS TO GO TO JAIL!!!

Corporate America can't believe that the small grower has the nerve, THE AUDACITY!, to have that $2 Billion going through the common man's hand!

Indeed 'this is NOT a love song'!

 

[dagnabit]

^^^

whiskey tango foxtrot over

 

[jackel]

asking ones opinion on a vote, then having them answer, then telling them there selfish is rather irritating. someones opinion is ALWAYS going to be selfish in a way. if they werent selfish, you would call them "anothe sheep"
i have been a california grower for almost 8 years. i do it for financial reasons. If you want to call it being selfish, so be it. I do what i must to survive. I live in a small community that is supported by growers. the majority of my community grows, and sells illegally. Without this income, our unemployment/homeless rate would be sky-high.
We make a living off of a quasi-legal law. If it became legalized, well we would lose our income. I know that most of the growers want No for this reason. I know that most of the consumers want Yes because they dont want to get caught toking up. I respect that, but unfortunately u dont make a living off of toking up.
I hope to see a no vote, otherwise i know a lot of people who will have to forclose on there land,house,ect.. now instead of just less people in jail for pot crimes, u will have to support more of us after we are on ur tax money to survive.

 

[David762]

I would rather worship the cannabis plant instead of Mammon, so I will be voting FOR TC2010. Of course, I'm an old fart leftist that curses RM Nixon's name about every fracking day, and every other meathead prohibitionist politician since that time.

Legalization, at the State, then National, is the only way to turn out all the fascists currently running this country. Imagine BigPharma loosing about 2/3 of their poisonous patent medicines because of legal cannabis. Or the realization that cannabis IS THE gateway drug AWAY FROM poisonous alcohol. Imagine no more drug wars, or heavily armed gestapo thugs knocking down peoples' doors ...

 

[Koroz]

asking ones opinion on a vote, then having them answer, then telling them there selfish is rather irritating. someones opinion is ALWAYS going to be selfish in a way. if they werent selfish, you would call them "anothe sheep"
i have been a california grower for almost 8 years. i do it for financial reasons. If you want to call it being selfish, so be it. I do what i must to survive. I live in a small community that is supported by growers. the majority of my community grows, and sells illegally. Without this income, our unemployment/homeless rate would be sky-high.
We make a living off of a quasi-legal law. If it became legalized, well we would lose our income. I know that most of the growers want No for this reason. I know that most of the consumers want Yes because they dont want to get caught toking up. I respect that, but unfortunately u dont make a living off of toking up.
I hope to see a no vote, otherwise i know a lot of people who will have to forclose on there land,house,ect.. now instead of just less people in jail for pot crimes, u will have to support more of us after we are on ur tax money to survive.

Or, you could band together and start your own company with the other growers in your area. With your land, expertise and a little bit of elbow grease you could corner the mom and pop market in your area just like the California wine industry started out small and grew so could the California Cannabis industry.

Not to mention the tourism that will become mainstay once Cannabis is legalized the market will triple, quadruple in size which means you have other avenues to profit from legalization.

 

[Kalicokitty]

By applying and using the laws that exist- NOBODY HAS TO GO TO JAIL!!!

!

In California that is.

The rest of us in the non med states can, and do, go to jail over complete MJ bullshit.
Like a roach in an ashtray, or simple possession of bong water, etc....

Like I've said before, IMO this will pave the way for us to get a little bit of something, even if it's just MMJ, because right now we have NOTHING, and defiantly do go to jail for it, and that's not right.

The idea of "Big tobacco" selling cheap weed in stores is so far away from where I am right now I can't even begin to imagine it happening.


I hear what your saying Zap, and if I was in your shoes, I would be fine with things just like they are now, but I'm not, so I hope it passes.

 

[jackel]

Or, you could band together and start your own company with the other growers in your area. With your land, expertise and a little bit of elbow grease you could corner the mom and pop market in your area just like the California wine industry started out small and grew so could the California Cannabis industry.

Not to mention the tourism that will become mainstay once Cannabis is legalized the market will triple, quadruple in size which means you have other avenues to profit from legalization.

have you talked to many grape growers? because i have. and i know that theres a lot of grape growers pulling up there grapes because they are barely breaking even. could there possibly be a market for "quality grown", yes but its going to be very small. I have first hand see the price of pot plummet over the last few years. And thats only with 215. prices will only get lower if its legalized state wide.

 

[SeniorBuzz]

Or, you could band together and start your own company with the other growers in your area. With your land, expertise and a little bit of elbow grease you could corner the mom and pop market in your area just like the California wine industry started out small and grew so could the California Cannabis industry.

Not to mention the tourism that will become mainstay once Cannabis is legalized the market will triple, quadruple in size which means you have other avenues to profit from legalization.

this is a perfect opportunity for people who love to grow indoors....but that is mostly only if you are willing to band together and form a model production line grow, with a dispensary on the front end, preferably outside of town

 

[SeniorBuzz]

SNIP

prices will only get lower if its legalized state wide.

prices are being driven lower as more people are growing

and more people are growing more

for the exploding mmj dispensary market

and in anticipation of legalization;

it's never going to change

mj price decreases are here to stay

as people rush to cash in

and the volume and quality improve;

with this economy and global debt crisis

it's just about the only game in town

 

[David762]

I saw a quote somewhere that I lost track of so that I cannot give proper attribution -- it so closely tracks with my feelings about Prop 215 VS TC-2010:
"I would rather smoke legal marijuana medically, rather than medical marijuana legally."

While I can understand the viewpoint of growers voting "NO" on TC2010, I would prefer to look at the bigger issue, that of freedom. I'm not talking about freedom as in "I'm not in jail/prison -- I'm free." I am talking about overturning the right of the Feds/State to imprison, to seize assets, to govern what I do to my own body in the privacy of my home. Prohibition 2.0 was enacted based upon lies -- it continues based upon oft-repeated lies. Alcohol Prohibition lasted for less than 20 years, but Prohibition 2.0 has been in effect for 73+ years. It has been used for the basis of the most egregious increase in the totalitarian powers of a police state. Those powers today are so entrenched that the only way to return to populist ideals is to chip away at not only the medical aspects of Prohibition 2.0, but also the legal aspects, on a State-by-State basis.

Prohibition 2.0 is only one part of a fundamental change in USA society away from government By. For, and Of the People towards government By, For, and Of the Corporations -- a society based upon Privatized Profits and Socialized Risks. Another name for what we have now is Fascism. Serial wars without end, and endless wars. Corporations that ride roughshod over the rights, well-being, and even lives of the Peons under their jackboots. Contrived Economic Meltdowns used to blackmail taxpayers for big bailouts for Wall Street, and the continued squeeze on Families and Main Street. Mega-Corporations that write/control government regulations for their own benefit, like BP and the Gulf of Mexico ecological and economic disaster. An out-of-control Department of Defense that can loose $2.3 Trillion, announced by SecDef Rumsfeld on Sept. 10, 2001, with no accountability, like loosing small change in the sofa cushions.

Sorry for this rant, but that is how important that the Cali TC-2010 legalization effort is, a chink in the wall ...

 

[SeniorBuzz]

marijuana will be legalized, but before that happens,

there will be a series of regulations placed on those that grow commercially

and regulations on mmj dispensaries, as to number, and location

those are the trade-offs along the way

 

[Koroz]

have you talked to many grape growers? because i have. and i know that theres a lot of grape growers pulling up there grapes because they are barely breaking even. could there possibly be a market for "quality grown", yes but its going to be very small. I have first hand see the price of pot plummet over the last few years. And thats only with 215. prices will only get lower if its legalized state wide.

Yes I have, I grew up with a family in the trade. I now live in a state where this issue (with wine) is rampant. The point is, those who adapt overcome and those who don't die out.

for just as many grape growers pulling up vineyards there are hundreds more employed both by private corporations, and small mom and pop grows that are getting bigger.

I payed 45-50 an eight in the early 90's/late 80's, I paid 45 an eight 3 years ago before I left California. I highly doubt the cost of Cannabis has dropped more then 5bucks an eighth in the 3 years since I left Cali.

These "drastic" price drops just aren't going to happen as the market will be controlled by quality, in reality the high quality personally grown aficionado cannabis will most likely increase in price due to the flooding of the market of standardized "corporate" mass produced weed just as a nice Dominican Cigar hand rolled brings more of a price tag then a mass produced Swisher sweet, or the difference between a pack of Marlboro Reds compared to a pack of US Spirit smokes.

It works the same way in every industry. Alcohol, Patron Tequila price compared to that of Jose. A Steak at a ranch hand where they cut their own beef compared to sizzler. The market will regulate itself, and there will always people who will buy high quality Cannabis at a price well above the market norm for corporate produced "mids".

 

[smokesalot420]

Koroz brings up a point that hits close to home in Nor-Cal.... The price for mids (and crappy outdoor) has dropped quite a bit in the last few years but high-quality prices has stayed steady.
If you aren't able to offload your meds you may want to look into your grow and try and make some improvements (and if you don't want to improve you shouldn't be doing this anyway)!

 

[SeniorBuzz]

The quality of pot improved dramatically for me

when I began buying from dispensaries

dispensaries aren't likely to buy crap

and I would think a nose could be trained

just like the palate in wine tasting

or when you pick yourself up off the floor

you know how good it was

 

[Neo 420]

While I can understand the viewpoint of growers voting "NO" on TC2010, I would prefer to look at the bigger issue, that of freedom. I'm not talking about freedom as in "I'm not in jail/prison -- I'm free." I am talking about overturning the right of the Feds/State to imprison, to seize assets, to govern what I do to my own body in the privacy of my home. Prohibition 2.0 was enacted based upon lies -- it continues based upon oft-repeated lies. Alcohol Prohibition lasted for less than 20 years, but Prohibition 2.0 has been in effect for 73+ years. It has been used for the basis of the most egregious increase in the totalitarian powers of a police state. Those powers today are so entrenched that the only way to return to populist ideals is to chip away at not only the medical aspects of Prohibition 2.0, but also the legal aspects, on a State-by-State basis.

Great statement! (You did rant a bit.. ) This is the only way to get the federal govt to actually reclassify and legalize MJ. If 40 states have legalized, decriminalized or soften its stance against MJ the feds would have no choice but to shift policies. But it has to start somewhere. Even if its a shitty bill.

 

[jackel]

iv met people who were growing before 215 came. they were making 5k a lb. 215 came and price dropped to 3k within the first 2 years. since then prices have dropped to 1/2 of that now for the same quality if not better.
iv first hand seen high quality stuff passed up for cheaper stuff. the cheap stuff is in abundance and very cheap.
I know for a fact that if it is legalized, quality will plummet esp after strict regulations are imposed, and prices will plummet as well.

 

[nomaad]

knowing things about the future as "fact" is like... a superpower. do you drink a special tonic or were you just born with that ability?

edit: please don't take that as aggression. more like good natured ball-busting

 

[jackel]

sell seeing as there has been a steady pattern, i would say its a pretty damn good guess .

 

[nomaad]

Jackel: No matter how cheap box wine gets, you can still buy a $150 bottle of merlot. The price of mass produced herb will get lower with quality, just like you say... But there will always be micro-paradigm, high quality name brand shit... where the brand stands for quality.

The only constant in the universe is change. You can be like water in the face of change or you can be stone.

Even with the drop in price, the industry is growing. $5K a pound like back before '96 is ridiculous anyway. Its STILL damn high. If you can't make the ganja business work for you @ $1K/lb profit, you've got no business doing it anyway. Just wait till the REAL farmers (who operate on a TINY margin) show up in the ganja biz. If the coming changes in the market thin out the crop so that only the truly quality operators can compete in the connoisseur-level, micro-grow marketplace (which will never disappear, imo), is that such a bad thing?

 

[dagnabit]

iv met people who were growing before 215 came. they were making 5k a lb. 215 came and price dropped to 3k within the first 2 years. since then prices have dropped to 1/2 of that now for the same quality if not better.
iv first hand seen high quality stuff passed up for cheaper stuff. the cheap stuff is in abundance and very cheap.
I know for a fact that if it is legalized, quality will plummet esp after strict regulations are imposed, and prices will plummet as well.

ill take every single $1500 lb of A++ you can produce!