Why is medical marijuana so expensive?

[MedResearcher]

Why would you ever base inflation rates on gasoline when we are currently at WAR for oil?

And no, potatoes have not gone up 300-400% since 1995.

Probably because oil drives our economy and is a direct factor on inflation.


In 2001 my local grocer had 10lb bags of potatoes for 1 dollar... I know I lived off them for 3 months straight while I waited for a harvest. Today that same bag is 4 to 5 dollars.


Mr^^

 

[Pythagllio]

Expensive? What are you talking about? I know of several clubs I can go into today and get a lifetime supply of medical grade cannabis for less than $20.

Unless you're stealing electricity almost 50 cents a KWH adds up quick.

If patients didn't demand 'bag appeal' requiring substantial trimming labor the cost wouldn't be so high. Perhaps if it were legal and trimmers could be had for $10/hr this wouldn't be so important but for christ sake those little leaves in the buds don't cause much of a quality decline.

It's not easy establishing a grow facility. Rent isn't cheap.

What do you think Harborside pays for rent on their facility? I'd guess ~$15k per month. Then there's la mordida to the City of Oakland every year.

But when the rubber hits the road the price is the price because it's how much the number of people required to work through the stock are willing to voluntarily pay. Increase supply dramatically and the price has to adjust to find the new number of people required. If you want the price to go down, we need more supply.

Hey JJ, I read in another thread that you give away 5 lbs a year. Tip of the hat to you for your compassion, but if you really wanted to help people you'd teach them to fish instead of giving them a fish dinner. Take your 5 lbs and sell it to a club. That gets you $12,500 at least, let's play with that number. Since you were giving the pot away we'll forget about your expenses in growing it. Now you take the $12,500 and buy grow equipment. You find qualified patients that can't afford the start up and start them up, i.e. you give them grow equipment instead of buds. Set them up so they grow more than they need and have them 'pay rent' on the equipment with end product. You then take the end product to the club, get money, find more qualified patients, lather, rinse, repeat. Instead of providing a few patients temporary relief you'll be providing many patients with a constant supply, and doing your part to increase supply, and decreasing the number of people willing to pay $20/gram to the dispensaries.

 

[johnnyla]

i concur cannabis prices haven't risen in the 20 years i've been smoking. high grade was 50-60 an eighth 15 years ago as is today. this was on the east coast.

everything else has trippled in price.

 

[Blue Dot]

everything else has trippled in price.

No, in business theres something called the annual consumer index or some shit like that and it allows a buisnees to increase their rates based on inflation.

It's been pretty steady at like 1-1.5% per year for as long as anyone can remember.

I don't know where you guys are shopping?

 

[JJScorpio]

Expensive? What are you talking about? I know of several clubs I can go into today and get a lifetime supply of medical grade cannabis for less than $20.

Unless you're stealing electricity almost 50 cents a KWH adds up quick.

If patients didn't demand 'bag appeal' requiring substantial trimming labor the cost wouldn't be so high. Perhaps if it were legal and trimmers could be had for $10/hr this wouldn't be so important but for christ sake those little leaves in the buds don't cause much of a quality decline.

It's not easy establishing a grow facility. Rent isn't cheap.

What do you think Harborside pays for rent on their facility? I'd guess ~$15k per month. Then there's la mordida to the City of Oakland every year.

But when the rubber hits the road the price is the price because it's how much the number of people required to work through the stock are willing to voluntarily pay. Increase supply dramatically and the price has to adjust to find the new number of people required. If you want the price to go down, we need more supply.

Hey JJ, I read in another thread that you give away 5 lbs a year. Tip of the hat to you for your compassion, but if you really wanted to help people you'd teach them to fish instead of giving them a fish dinner. Take your 5 lbs and sell it to a club. That gets you $12,500 at least, let's play with that number. Since you were giving the pot away we'll forget about your expenses in growing it. Now you take the $12,500 and buy grow equipment. You find qualified patients that can't afford the start up and start them up, i.e. you give them grow equipment instead of buds. Set them up so they grow more than they need and have them 'pay rent' on the equipment with end product. You then take the end product to the club, get money, find more qualified patients, lather, rinse, repeat. Instead of providing a few patients temporary relief you'll be providing many patients with a constant supply, and doing your part to increase supply, and decreasing the number of people willing to pay $20/gram to the dispensaries.

I live in NY so we have to be careful. Plus two of the people I help are totally disabled. One of the people lets me grow on his land so basically he's earning his cut, lol......

I guess when you take into consideration the cost of renting a building in CA that you have to offset this with higher prices.... I guess until you knew the amount that was being sold you really can't figure out what profits are being made....

 

[johnnyla]

dude it's a fact gas is three times as much today than ten years ago. cigarettes and booze are 3 times as much.

food is prob 3 times as much too because, hello, fuel prices went up and everything is shipped to our stores. hence the price inflation.

movies are triple
corn is 5 times more expensive
water is incalcuably more expensive

Name something that hasn't double or tripled in price since the early 1990s.

 

[Blue Dot]

Name something that hasn't double or tripled in price since the early 1990s.

My paycheck?

 

[MedResearcher]

My paycheck?

Cali's minimum wage has increased over 200% since the early 90's. So my friend; you should either have a talk with your boss, find a new job, or back to school.


Back to JJ's original topic, I think if someone is seriously ill, as well as seriously poor there are channels and organizations within cali that are very compassionate and actually provide medicine free; for instance WAMM.

Here is the website: http://www.wamm.org/


Mr^^

 

[Blue Dot]

Back to JJ's original topic, I think if someone is seriously ill, as well as seriously poor there are channels and organizations within cali that are very compassionate and actually provide medicine free; for instance WAMM.

Here is the website: http://www.wamm.org/


Mr^^

I'm poor, I'm ill. Do they provide that service down here to patients in San Diego? (didn't think so)

What are you talking about?

of course there are pockets of compassion across this great state of ours. And there are also pockets of greed.

So do the pockets of compassion make up for the pockets of greed?

 

[SacredBreh]

Ok.... agree with all sides but.....

Ok.... agree with all sides but.....

Excellent idea for a thread JJS.

Peace

 

[mrred]

gotta start your own club with your own growers, then you'll get the ca growers that say they try to keep the price low but cant because of the cost of indoor growing in ca

 

[ourcee]

30 years ago Mendo outdoor was going for $4,500/lb, and that was the 100lb discount price.

LOL

1979

$4500lbs? nor cal?

you must have been lookin like a cop if you got charged/actually paid that.

single p's go for less than that to the black market all day long

 

[Owl Mirror]

Instead of arguing this in another thread, I was wondering what people think about the price of medical buds for sick people.

From what I understand, buds are sold from between 20 and 30 bucks a gram or 60 bucks or so an eighth. That figures out on the low side to 600 an ounce by the gram or 500 an ounce by eighths. On the high side it could range from 800 to 700 per ounce. That figures out to be around 10,000 dollars per pound. It's my understanding that club owners want to pay 2400 to 3000 per pound. If that's true there's an awful margin between retail and wholesale.

How could someone unable to work, or dying, afford to smoke on a daily basis? A better question seems to be how could a sick or dying person afford to smoke at all?

If these "compassion clubs" actually were concerned in people getting their buds for pain, how can they charge these prices. It saddens me to think of someone not being able to afford it because of the price. I just don't see a whole lot of compassion.....

10K, if this is not suited for this forum just move it......

You have expressed this topic very well and I concur.
In Michigan, our law stipulates how a 'caregiver' is compensated.
By Law, they can charge for the true cost of what it takes to grow the crop. Adding up the cost of electricity, water, nutrients and a proper amount for time spent in this activity. The Law states quite clearly that the whole plant belongs to the patient. This means the 'caregiver' grows the marijuana plants, charges an appropriate amount for compensation and delivers the whole plants/harvested buds to the patient.
Unfortunately there are those in Michigan who completely disagree with this notion and demand to run the process based upon the laws of California.
I receive $1,000 per month from SSDI. If I had to pay these outrageous prices for an 1/8 oz, the law would not be serving me or many others it was intended to serve.

I could say much more on this subject but, I'll end my comment here.

 

[PkRipper]

dude at harborside told me he is god and he sets the price of my meds,

he later told me he had a deal with the devil to jack up the price with taxes that the devil gets to keep.

 

[kmk420kali]

Instead of arguing this in another thread, I was wondering what people think about the price of medical buds for sick people.

From what I understand, buds are sold from between 20 and 30 bucks a gram or 60 bucks or so an eighth. That figures out on the low side to 600 an ounce by the gram or 500 an ounce by eighths. On the high side it could range from 800 to 700 per ounce. That figures out to be around 10,000 dollars per pound. It's my understanding that club owners want to pay 2400 to 3000 per pound. If that's true there's an awful margin between retail and wholesale.

How could someone unable to work, or dying, afford to smoke on a daily basis? A better question seems to be how could a sick or dying person afford to smoke at all?

If these "compassion clubs" actually were concerned in people getting their buds for pain, how can they charge these prices. It saddens me to think of someone not being able to afford it because of the price. I just don't see a whole lot of compassion.....

10K, if this is not suited for this forum just move it......

Bad apples exist on all trees...there are many clubs that charge like that...but there are also many who have $50/8th caps on all meds...with selections starting at $40--
Also, many give special prices for seriously ill/terminal Patients--
They can't really go any cheaper, or else LEO will close them down, saying they are too cheap and the meds are just being resold for a profit on the streets!!
As long as the street prices stay up, the clubs (as they are now set up) have to stay in that range--

 

[Vespatian]

LOL

1979

$4500lbs? nor cal?

you must have been lookin like a cop if you got charged/actually paid that.

single p's go for less than that to the black market all day long

That's what I sold for. For many years.

I know quite well what the current market is - for both indoor and outdoor.

 

[mrred]

look at them old school books i dont think the price has ever changed, just the quality

 

[Vespatian]

The price for outdoor has been cut in half or more, and the quality (measured by THC content) has tripled or so.

 

[ourcee]

That's what I sold for. For many years.

I know quite well what the current market is - for both indoor and outdoor.

I dont doubt you could get that price from some unlucky chump. I just doubt there would be people lining up for 100 packs at 4500 each p.

I have had friends that have been going to nor cal for years, bringing back 10 packs of TOP SHELF stuff for 30,000. I dont see outdoor fetching 1.5 times MORE than that THIRTY years ago.

These arent hard to come by prices in that area. Especially with the competition, I'm calling bs.

 

[Wilshire]

Damn, I would just get my medical card and go through a dealer whom can bring the price down a lot. I get my grams roughly around 11 dollars, or 160 a half. That price is for all the kushs, purples, diesels, headband, ect. Those poor medical patients... I was reading the thread about the san dieago dispensaries being caught up and came across a factoid. Apparently the clinics arn't supposed to make profit (dumb) or else the LE can get involved, now you know those places arn't getting their shit at 60 an eighth. I just find that interesting...

Good day my friends.

PS-I'm new to this website, in fact this is the first grow site I've joined. Love this place. Keep smokin'. Peace.