speaking of these lobbyists.... Kristen Thomson is overly sensitive about her weight and really, really, hates being called fat. Kara Miller is the capital hill "bed hopper" to put it nicely. Kristen is the weaker one of these two, imo. She really only got to her current position because her Daddy used to be the head of RAND - yes the same group that did that study on crime around dispensaries in LA....

sky high said:

I've been toying with the idea of printing some "Friends Don't Let Friends Smoke Dispensary Weed" bumper stickers and slappin' 'em all over the State.

The first one would go on Rob Corry's car...the second...over Matt Cook's mouth.

Great idea, TK. Other than the DEA comin in and whackin ass....cuttin off the funds is about the only other way to nixx this model. Problem is, there are too many idiots out there who only want things to be EASY who keep patronizing these places.

Grow an extra plant 'er two....give some bud to yer friends. Gifting less than an ounce is completely legal now. (They can pay you later). LOL.

"Ch....ch...ch...ch....ch...changes... look out you rock n rollers..."

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Can I get in on the sticker distribution team?

The tax angle or the tax windfall the industry doesn't exist, at least not in the way they would like you to think...the total tax revenue collected from the entire industry was appox. $2.2 million dollars, that's it, no where near alcohol which was approx $39 million bucks..hell New Belgium brewery paid more taxes than the entire industry on Fat Tire alone..

Now they got alot of press by saying the first $40million in taxes collected is goin strait to the schools...what a joke, do you realize how long it would take to hit $40 million, especially when it is a cash business and no one is paying taxes on what they actual should, its all a shell game internally between your despensary and grow ops and profits mysteriously disappear at the end....those are the same guys standin up saying how much they are kickin into the state coffers, its just not reality.

Pop-up Farmers markets, like the old rave days, jackin warehouses for a night, flash mob action

I am in on the Boycott, been doing that for at least two years, already......... need to spread the word, is all.........

Bud Spleefman said:

I am in on the Boycott, been doing that for at least two years, already......... need to spread the word, is all.........

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Dood, the way you grow, why would you EVER need a dispensary??? ;)
xxoo
Melissa

Who goes to a dispensary for weed? Nobody I know.

Yea, this site is not really a good represention of the dispensary goin crowd, most of us wouldn't be caught dead in one....

Someone needs to hack "weedtracker" a cause some civil unrest...lol..start a rumor or something crazy...

Texas Kid said:

he total tax revenue collected from the entire industry was appox. $2.2 million dollars, that's it,

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Not sure where you got $2.2M but Colorado Springs alone pulled in almost $1M in CITY taxes @ 2.4% in 2012 on Medical Marijuana.


The State tax rate is slightly more than the city rate, so from sales made within the city limits there was almost $2M just from the Springs when you combine the 2 rates together.

As a guess the Denver area probably sells 10x what we do down here, so the combined state and local sales taxes gathered in CO are more like $20M in 2012. That is at a 2.4% local rate and 2.5% state rate.

The anticipated excise tax was rumored to be in the neighborhood of 15% on Wholesale sales. Given the increase in Commercial related sales volume at this 15% rate I can see it getting in the $40M neighborhood.

I'm not understanding the reasoning behind a boycott of retail establishments. Is it because you can't sell your excess caregiver crops like back in the day?

Even if the State did allow you to do that, you would most likely have to get a license or registration of some sort. At that point none of the growers would be interested.

Bottom line, the state wants their money. Even that skanky Mary Kay lady has to register, report her income, pay sales taxes, pay taxes on the income etc. I don't think it is a plan to oust the little guy as much as it is more of a process to eliminate unreported income.

Personally, I could care less if independents sold to dispensaries. It would certainly help out the shops that can't grow for shit. I will only sell what I grow so I can know what the background is on every plant in production.

If you want to sell you from your basement grow you need to be vocal about it to your legislature. Don't let the voices of those that you oppose be louder than yours. A boycott might make you feel good, but it most certainly will not accomplish you goal.

Here is the Denver post 2010-2011 results, granted this ws in November, so there was still a month to go on reciepts

http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_16688199

Tax year 2012-2013 has yet to be released

It always seems to me that the dream and the reality of a tax windfall are way apart, especially when the numbers are published

I've heard the exise tax could be as much as 51%, more in line with gas and cigerrttes

I know alot of folks that would gladly pay a liscense fee and register in order to sell back into the commerciel system..no problem at all and yes I think that is what sticks in people side more than anything, that alone kick 10,000 or so small time quality producers out of the game and back into their evryday existence in the matrix

how is that possible... somebody's numbers are skewed. The problem is either the Post or the Gazette. Colorado springs says $98k for just December in city taxes, which has been pretty consistent through 2012. There is no way that State taxes collected in denver and metro areas are equal to that of Colorado Springs.

I think the post is screwy but who knows.

UPDATE: looked at the date of your Post story. 2010! Not many were paying sales taxes at that point. I'm going with the 2012 numbers I posted :)

Lmao@ the red highlight!

sky high said:

I've been toying with the idea of printing some "Friends Don't Let Friends Smoke Dispensary Weed" bumper stickers and slappin' 'em all over the State.

The first one would go on Rob Corry's car...the second...over Matt Cook's mouth.

Great idea, TK. Other than the DEA comin in and whackin ass....cuttin off the funds is about the only other way to nixx this model. Problem is, there are too many idiots out there who only want things to be EASY who keep patronizing these places.

Grow an extra plant 'er two....give some bud to yer friends. Gifting less than an ounce is completely legal now. (They can pay you later). LOL.

"Ch....ch...ch...ch....ch...changes... look out you rock n rollers..."

Click to expand...

JeromeGarcia said:

speaking of these lobbyists.... Kristen Thomson is overly sensitive about her weight and really, really, hates being called fat. Kara Miller is the capital hill "bed hopper" to put it nicely. Kristen is the weaker one of these two, imo. She really only got to her current position because her Daddy used to be the head of RAND - yes the same group that did that study on crime around dispensaries in LA....

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Most interesting. Where did you find out about this?

This is the report to read, I just found it but it lays it all out and seems more current than the one I had, it is still pro despensaries but the tax numbers are there

http://www.scribd.com/doc/105914947/The-Colorado-Cannabis-Industry-A-Tale-of-Ten-Cities

I read through it... 2012 numbers are running at least 25% higher than the posted 2011 numbers. Based on that, the $9.5 million collected in sales taxes from only those10 listed cities would be about $12 million for state and local sales tax collected at a +/- 5% tax rate.

The excise tax is supposed to run 15%, not 5%, so even with these 10 cities and not including the rest of CO they can likely make it to the $40 million. I would also factor that when retail sales get rolling the sales numbers will be larger than the current med only sales.

But to thread back to the original topic, regardless of the commercial aspects there will always be sick people in need of caregivers. The role of caregivers is to grow for patients that are unable to, or have no means to grow for their needs. Anybody that wants to care for a patient in need will always have a place in the picture.

TK- But as i mentioned earlier, Fed is already acknowledging that too high of a taxation will lead to more black market activity that none of the enforcers have resources to enforce. Not saying that means a lot, but at least they acknowledge taxing it out place aint gonna work in the big picture. But again even as i re-read that- not that it means much. lol.

Amber said:

Someone I know used to say something that I believe will stand true in the end. "There will always be a market for grade A weed."

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And in a connoisseur market, the person with the best weed sells the most weed.

outwest

I am all for taking care of others and think I am compassionate individual but the one thing that concerns me is the direction many dispensaries seem to be going is selling a good product cheep. SoCo your prices shock me...wtf are you doing?? You along with other dispensary owners are cheep selling product to the point of running each other out of the business.

I hope that the operating cost of running a legal commercial grow gets so high that you have to stop this shit or go out of business. And if I know the govt like I think I do the operating expenses of a legal shop are going to do nothing but go up. Both Medical and (if they ever hit the street) recreational outlets. If you young entrepreneurs think you are going to get a 70% return on your investment you have another thing coming. More like 10% at best and if you don't know how to control your expenses you will be a fart in the wind before long.

The term boycott applies here because of your pricing practices. imo

outwest said:

And in a connoisseur market, the person with the best weed sells the most weed.

outwest

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A connoisseur will also pay for the quality happily setting a market that allows for a true master farmer to be just that. Why would you ever want to sell yourself short whether your the connoisseur or the master farmer you enjoy the finer things and are always raising the bar.

outwest said:

And in a connoisseur market, the person with the best weed sells the most weed.

outwest

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I would suggest there are connoisseurs in the market, making up probably 5-10% of actual cannabis users, but no connoisseur market per se. I personally feel the Sativa market is a great microcosm of this... who here (beyond the grower) actually pays more for sativas these days?

I also feel that connoisseur quality is too liberally assigned to mediocre product- but because the actual connoisseur market is so small what passes for top quality these days is a flashlight to yesterdays sun- unless you know who produces top quality or produce it yourself, of course.

I don't know many connoisseurs who don't also grow connoisseur quality.. Certainly not saying they aren't there, but the folks who still pay me top dollar for my best do it because they understand quality and consistency, but only because of time or injury or general lack of ability they are unable to produce it on their own... everyone else buys someone else's 25 dollar shelf 8ths all day... occasionally splurging on the 40 dollar shelf... frankly- more power to them. If I was a buyer I sure as shit hope I could get the best price for the best grass I could...Of course as a cultivator I don't like they way prices have dropped- but I am historically sober enough to understand the prices we enjoyed for so long were artificially inflated due to prohibition- and I won't blame commercial producers for the drop in prices- but certainly we can gripe about the flood of bullshit on the streets and maybe that's the same thing in the end....

....All that is kind of beside the point... Here's a question I'd like to pose: How many legitimate medical patients are "connoisseurs" ?

I would argue that "none" and "all" are both appropriate answers. At the very least they share a very important factor of "top quality" in common.... After all, a connoisseur is a product of luxury based operations who consumes top quality by way of ability and preference .... Medical patients- while not connoisseurs by definition- are those folks who necessitate top quality but may or may not be able to afford such a luxury as top quality cannabis, nor may they otherwise be exposed to arenas of experience where such is even available if not for their sickness/injury.

I would suggest that alone justifies a NEED for caregivers- but whether current market/legal trends will allow most to continue remains to be seen, but I'd say yes... Legit patients need top quality.....therefore a need for caregivers is there- but your level of compensation will likely depend upon- as it was in the past- one's propensity to bend and break laws in accordance with his/her desire and/or (perceived) need to maintain one's style of living. Folks who only ever "grew medical" may have a problem with it, but for everyone else, don't despair... you are still relevant and necessary.. and good money is to be made.... Just stay safe on your drive to Kansas or Nebraska or whatever

So long term...were fucked....short term, ball out and go big! Seems that was the idea all along...