Is The Price For Legal Marijuana In Colorado Too High?

[HeadGrow]

Not sure where you got your information? WA state took applications for a 30 day period. In that time frame there were right at 2800 applications for growers. EVERYONE that applied to grow that can pass the background check, fills out there application properly and has a viable business plan will be licensed to grow. They are not limiting the number of growers here from that pool of 2800 applications. Even though the state projects that they want to set a 2 million square feet of canopy cap for the state they will not do anything about that for at least a year to see how people do with their grows, how much canopy they actually put into production and what quantities the actual market will bear. If anything there will be a glut of legal weed in WA state which is most of the growers main concern here. If 2800 growers is not enough they will open their licensing process again to accept more licenses from growers but personally I would not expect that in the next year or maybe more.

The only limit on numbers of licenses being issued is for retail shops of which they have limited to 334 throughout the state and they only allow a certain number per community or in areas with lower populations they only allow a certain number per county. People applying for retail shops will have to be in a lottery if more people applied than there are allotted spots for.

I guess I was misinformed about the amount of legal grows that will be allowed. I just looked it up and you're correct; the LCB did not put a limit on the numbers of growers but they did make it easy to deny people if they want. It still doesn't make a difference in the fact that to make way for recreational the LCB wants to kill off medical. I guess we'll all see as time passes. I just couldn't see only getting 1K per lb and still giving a shit about it turning out top notch.



This is what's going to hurt recreational though,
"What is retail marijuana going to cost?
A: OFM’s fiscal impact statement places a price estimate of a $3 per gram producer price, a $6 per gram processor price and a pre-tax $12 per gram average retail purchase price."

They want to sell it for more than what it already is yet pay producers less than half of what they already make.

 

[inthegorge]

More hands in the pot so to speak:) Retail always counts on a 100% markup. When I can grow 700 lbs at a time outdoors I am happy with $1000 per lb and I only applied for the second tier of growing, a canopy of 10,000 square feet or less. Many people have applied for as many as 3 licenses at the third tier, 30,000 square feet of canopy. That is lots of weed:)

Legal weed will not kill of medical. It will however be regulated here now. The reason you can buy a lb of killer bud for $1600 here now is that so many people grow "medical" that there is literally a glut of good weed here. There has been no regulation of the medical market here at all. You just need a "dr." to give you a prescription (that you pay a roving naturopath $200 for) and you can have up to 2 lbs in your pocket at any time and grow up to 15 plants at a time. Of course that is not monitored in any way. The new rules for medical will allow 2 oz but only 1 oz on your person and 6 plants. Personally I think it should just be legal, straight across the board for everyone but that is not the case and I am lucky that I am in a position to be a "legal" grower and make a reasonable amount of cash while the getting is good. We won't be gouging people for high prices. I am hoping the price in shops stays below $250 per oz as a maximum which to me is reasonable.

 

[HeadGrow]

More hands in the pot so to speak:) Retail always counts on a 100% markup. When I can grow 700 lbs at a time outdoors I am happy with $1000 per lb and I only applied for the second tier of growing, a canopy of 10,000 square feet or less. Many people have applied for as many as 3 licenses at the third tier, 30,000 square feet of canopy. That is lots of weed:)

That's a lot of mediocre WA outdoor weed. How on earth do you plan on maintaining high quality on a 10,000 sq ft outdoor grow? I'm assuming you'll be using greenhouses because that's the only way anything in WA is going to be grown "outdoors" with success. Not to mention you'll only get one crop a year if you're planning on outdoor. If everyone was planning to go the outdoor easy route and crop 700 lbs then in October/November we'd have tons and tons of middle grade weed and then nothing in July. I take pride in what goes into my smoke. Will that be the same with all these big growers or will it be about turning out as much money per crop as possible? A lot of medical growers are in it for the quality or for the medical aspects of certain strains. I see all that being lost with recreational because i'm betting the only thing 99% of the rec growers will be striving for is money.

 

[HeadGrow]

More hands in the pot so to speak:) Retail always counts on a 100% markup. When I can grow 700 lbs at a time outdoors I am happy with $1000 per lb and I only applied for the second tier of growing, a canopy of 10,000 square feet or less. Many people have applied for as many as 3 licenses at the third tier, 30,000 square feet of canopy. That is lots of weed:)

Legal weed will not kill of medical. It will however be regulated here now. The reason you can buy a lb of killer bud for $1600 here now is that so many people grow "medical" that there is literally a glut of good weed here. There has been no regulation of the medical market here at all. You just need a "dr." to give you a prescription (that you pay a roving naturopath $200 for) and you can have up to 2 lbs in your pocket at any time and grow up to 15 plants at a time. Of course that is not monitored in any way. The new rules for medical will allow 2 oz but only 1 oz on your person and 6 plants. Personally I think it should just be legal, straight across the board for everyone but that is not the case and I am lucky that I am in a position to be a "legal" grower and make a reasonable amount of cash while the getting is good. We won't be gouging people for high prices. I am hoping the price in shops stays below $250 per oz as a maximum which to me is reasonable.

I can almost guarantee that whatever you're buying for $1600/lb is not "killer weed", unless you have a personal relationship with a big grower or some special circumstance. And you're wrong, rec will kill medical. That's the plan the LCB has recommended in order to reinforce their future sales. They know that not one person that has a card now would pay more to go to a rec store than their local dispensary. And since so many people have their cards now the LCB knows it'll take a large portion of their sales away. Read the recommendations I linked earlier. And what's the problem with allowing people that use it for medical purposes to grow 15 plants and have 1 1/2 lbs? You have no clue how people use their medicine and you have no right to tell people if they're not using to your medical standards.

Who is this "we" you speak of? You'll have no control of the end price. The prices are already set to gouge people.

The new rules for medical will allow 2 oz but only 1 oz on your person and 6 plants.

And you think that's ok? A person that grows to supply RSO for cancer needs won't even be able to do that under the new recommendations.

 

[inthegorge]

Oh my goodness....I live in Klickitat county....3 solid months of above 90 degree weather and the 2 months preceding that are reasonably mild. This is perfect for outdoor grows:-) We have been growing "medical" outdoors here for a number of years, 7-10 lbs per plant and it is wonderful herb depending on what strain you put in. Nothing mediocre about the outdoor that grows in my area! For most of WA state you are correct though and many people are doing greenhouses, huge ones. Most growers also have indoor setups as well including myself. You are just arrogant if you think that people growing in their basement, attic, back room or closet can grow better product than all these people including myself, who are putting literally hundreds of thousands of dollars into this process here. Growing in bulk, being able to do it in the open, using methods all of us have only dreamed about is going to revolutionize the way weed is grown in the future. It is not a negative for cannabis consumers....but it will probably be for those that have been making bank on small growing operations.

 

[inthegorge]

I can almost guarantee that whatever you're buying for $1600/lb is not "killer weed", unless you have a personal relationship with a big grower or some special circumstance. And you're wrong, rec will kill medical. That's the plan the LCB has recommended in order to reinforce their future sales. They know that not one person that has a card now would pay more to go to a rec store than their local dispensary. And since so many people have their cards now the LCB knows it'll take a large portion of their sales away. Read the recommendations I linked earlier. And what's the problem with allowing people that use it for medical purposes to grow 15 plants and have 1 1/2 lbs? You have no clue how people use their medicine and you have no right to tell people if they're not using to your medical standards.

Who is this "we" you speak of? You'll have no control of the end price. The prices are already set to gouge people.

Oh my....I have never and would never tell anyone how to use their medicine. I think there is no reason to debate this. Legal weed is happening here. Medical weed will be regulated. Not my choosing...just the way it is going to go. I am simply working with the laws that are in place and I have no doubt at all that I will be successful. You are absolutely wrong about the herb available here. I am here and I do know what I am talking about. I can buy a lb today of top shelf herb for $1600 and after 30 years of experience using the stuff I am pretty sure I know what killer is. That does not mean that all weed here is so cheap to buy but right now I have no problem finding it at this price. I know multiple people that grow here with their "medical" card and are sitting on 30-40 lbs right now that they cannot sell even at that price. I have no reason to lie about this:-/

 

[inthegorge]

250 and oz..... after taxes or before???

im not talking trash dude, a 300 light spot here in denver went under real quick and the guy runnin it had your attitude. after everyone gets their cut, from the government to the trimmers and growers to the budtenders, you need to make more than that, cause nobody is working for a mcdonalds wage at a fuckin herb grow. you have to make people happy cause at the end of the day THEY grow your herb, and i know you in your 50s arent going to run multi light multi room spot by yourself.

you think all those people doing work are going to watch you pocket 50K gettin paid 8$ an hour??? no dude. doesnt work.

unless you automate everything down to the trimming, your shit WILL be 1k a unit cause it'll be some bammer. you want quality, you pay for it. on both sides grower and smoker.

My business is going to be family run, my 2 daughters, their partners, a couple of brothers and sister and their partners. You have no idea how many people want to "help" out with this just because it is so novel to us all here, to do it in the open. I think we will do much better than you suggest we will and that is what I am betting on:-) The time that it has taken to put this all in place is for a reason here in WA state. They do plan on being a model for the rest of the nation but again...it all waits to be seen how it goes down doesn't it now. You can take bets on the outcome but I am betting on myself as anyone doing this here should.

 

[HeadGrow]

Oh my....I have never and would never tell anyone how to use their medicine. I think there is no reason to debate this. Legal weed is happening here. Medical weed will be regulated. Not my choosing...just the way it is going to go. I am simply working with the laws that are in place and I have no doubt at all that I will be successful. You are absolutely wrong about the herb available here. I am here and I do know what I am talking about. I can buy a lb today of top shelf herb for $1600 and after 30 years of experience using the stuff I am pretty sure I know what killer is. That does not mean that all weed here is so cheap to buy but right now I have no problem finding it at this price. I know multiple people that grow here with their "medical" card and are sitting on 30-40 lbs right now that they cannot sell even at that price. I have no reason to lie about this:-/

That's ridiculous. There are so many dispensaries that would pick that up in a second for $1600 if it really is great weed. I get 2400-2600 no problem for my weed IF i bring it into dispensaries and I don't even bring them my best. If you have someone sitting on 30-40lbs of uber dank then you'd think they'd be willing to drive a couple hours to dump it off at a lot more than $1600. Something doesn't line up.

No offense to you but I know quite a few people that have been smoking and/or growing for 30 years and they still don't know what they're doing. I'm not saying that's you in any way though. Just saying that age doesn't always equal wisdom.

 

[inthegorge]

Dispensaries here can only purchase a limited amount from any one grower. It is illegal to have 30-40 lbs for a grower and they won't take more than a very small fraction of that in a transaction. Most people are so used to being under the radar that they would not even consider selling to a dispensary here. If a person smokes cannabis for 30 years and does not know the difference between killer and schwag they are doing something wrong for sure. I am not saying I have 30 years of growing experience...I have 30 years of smoking experiences. I do know the difference between good and not so good weed:-)

Anyway...this has been fun but off to work for me!

 

[Texas Kid]

You should really prepare yourself for some heartache and discontent ...10,000-30,000 canopy is not alot at all..if your not used to seeing some real scale it sounds like alot but 10,000 ft is roughly 300 lights hangin and that is barely entry level in the commercial arena and ultimately by the time you spend what it is goin to take to comply with state regulations for security, process, bonding, licensing and quality control testing your goin to spend a ton of money..the first thing that will go will be your right to grow outside so get ready to suck it up on that one, if the feds can fly over and see it, you don't want to do it..period..Michigan banned all outdoor grows for the exact same reason. Colorado as an example had 10,000+ independent growers supplying the dispensaries at one point then they changed the rules to where only commercial licensed and highly regulated facilities could play and those had to be owned and operated by licensed dispensaries creating a vertical intergration model goin forward and eliminating the the small private growers from the game...long term, if your not a commercial entity in a licensed state regulated grow facility your goin to be out of the game..it just will not be a money makin venture at a small scale

 

[altitudefarmer]

^^^sad but true^^^

 

[squiggly]

Your model is correct of supply and demand and the end price will be so high that it will most likely double street prices; making it just boost the black market until like you said, things stabilize.

Maybe short term, but long term supply and demand will make MJ extremely cheap.

It just grows out of the dirt like that, you guys. Been doing it for longer than we've been around probably. It's not worth approaching the price of gold by weight. A REAL market, which finally we're near to approximating will--over time--see the prices bottom out.

All it will take is one or two of the big boys to get involved and the majority of folks will be priced out of the market. You'll have connosieur brands and solo operations, but beyond that it will get pretty sparse. It's not going to support anywhere near the number of growers out there right now. Take whatever that number is and divide it by 10,000.

 

[johnny prince]

We have been growing "medical" outdoors here for a number of years, 7-10 lbs per plant and it is wonderful herb depending on what strain you put in.

10 pound plants now huh ?

 

[inthegorge]

10 pound plants now huh ?

Absolutely! Great outdoor growing here:-)

 

[inthegorge]

You should really prepare yourself for some heartache and discontent ...10,000-30,000 canopy is not alot at all..if your not used to seeing some real scale it sounds like alot but 10,000 ft is roughly 300 lights hangin and that is barely entry level in the commercial arena and ultimately by the time you spend what it is goin to take to comply with state regulations for security, process, bonding, licensing and quality control testing your goin to spend a ton of money..the first thing that will go will be your right to grow outside so get ready to suck it up on that one, if the feds can fly over and see it, you don't want to do it..period..Michigan banned all outdoor grows for the exact same reason. Colorado as an example had 10,000+ independent growers supplying the dispensaries at one point then they changed the rules to where only commercial licensed and highly regulated facilities could play and those had to be owned and operated by licensed dispensaries creating a vertical intergration model goin forward and eliminating the the small private growers from the game...long term, if your not a commercial entity in a licensed state regulated grow facility your goin to be out of the game..it just will not be a money makin venture at a small scale

Michigan never even came close to allowing recreational legal weed sir. The rules are set. Big growers are limited just like I am. You cannot have more than 3 licenses and if you did not already apply for one you won't get one, at least not for a year or two. There will not be any larger growers than what is permitted. Read the rules then you may know more about the system here.

Look people...I am not professing to be an expert on what on earth will happen with legalized weed here in WA state. What I do know is that with the rules in place I can grow weed legally and make money doing it. Works for me:-)

 

[johnny prince]

Absolutely! Great outdoor growing here:)

no offense but a lot of your story does not add up . it doesn't make sense that you are growing such wonderful product but you only get $1000 per pound . everyone else gets $2000+ and it doesn't need to be "wonderful" . you are getting 10 pound plants , how many plants are you doing per outdoor harvest ? how many people are you employing to dig holes for hundreds of plants , water , train , maintain hundreds of 10 pound trees ? harvesting hundreds of 10 pound plants , manicuring and processing hundreds of 10 pound plants ? I guess you can say that Im curious to hear about the logistics , sir .

 

[inthegorge]

Seriously? I am definitely not a he and I got no dick dude! Can you people not read? I have applied for my license to grow legal weed in WA state which apparently here is something to be despised by some of you! I am not "growing" any at this moment. I am almost done with the licensing process and expect to open with the lights on mid to end February. My "projections" in my business plan in order to be reasonably profitable for this business is with the expectation of $1000 per lb as a grower here. That is my PROJECTION, a minimum that I think I will get for an lb! I certainly hope that the market will bear a higher margin of profit for me and expect to make more on the lines of $1600 per lb but the $1000 is the "PROJECTION" that I used to make sure I can make it with the amount of money that is going into the operation. Any family member of mine will be well reimbursed for their time and you do not need to worry about that as none of them are in any way shape or form. I am not looking to become a millionaire here folks....just a lovely lovely job that hopefully will take some of my family members out of 9-5 jobs that they find no joy in and so my husband does not have to work at a hard laborers job any longer than he has to before he and I retire and leave this business to my daughters.

JP....in answer to your questions, I have a 100'x100' foot outdoor area fenced with 8'sight blocking fence as required by the state of WA. That is 1000 sq. ft of out door growing area in literally the warmest climate in the most southern part of central WA. I hope to grow 70 gigantic plants. They get huge here in the summer, and that is no exaggeration. 7 lb per plant is normal for my partner but a couple of years he averaged 10 and he doesn't even start them outside until the very end of May or the first of June! No it isn't indoor chronic but it is damn good depending on the strain and wonderful to smoke. My favorite of his specific strains is Eve and she is lovely outside and huge. Do you know how easy it is to grow outside? It is not a big deal to take care of 70 outdoor plants all by my 58 year old self. Water, food, there really is nothing else to do. Harvest...now that is another story. With that much poundage it is a freaking major job. We look at getting a bud trimming machine like the twister.
...
This is a new business. I am a new business start up. If any of you swinging dicks had the chance I have in front of me every single one of you would jump on it. Why on earth so many of you turn this into some sort of personal thing with me as the bad guy I cannot understand? Hopefully you will have the same opportunity where you live soon and if you need some help I will have many of the answers because of the process that I am going through. I won't be a dick about helping you out either if you reach out and that you can count on! To me this is the opportunity of my lifetime and I have already had a wonderful life so that is saying something. The conversation started as a question as to whether the price of legal weed in CO is too high......I am hoping that here in WA state when you ask the question it will be no...it is a good price for a wonderful product and guess what????? I will be a part of it....a tiny little part of it, but part of it nonetheless. That is absolutely exciting for me and none of the nay saying here can change that one little bit:-)

 

[Texas Kid]

I do think it will level back out over the next few years, I think wholesale retail prices will be $1800-2000 and retail at $175-225/zip..I think all the greenhouse production down south is way better suited to dump all weight into extracts and fat based edibles production. The edibles demand is far far more than anticipated and those guys guys can not keep up. you could still probably pull $1000-1200 on greenhouse flowers..Im tellin ya, edibles is the money right now..if I had a MIPs license and an extraction setup right now Id be like Willy Wonka..lol

 

[Seamaiden]

Keep it civil, folks. There's no reason to go on the attack here, no reason at all.

 

[oscar169]

Michigan never even came close to allowing recreational legal weed sir. The rules are set. Big growers are limited just like I am. You cannot have more than 3 licenses and if you did not already apply for one you won't get one, at least not for a year or two. There will not be any larger growers than what is permitted. Read the rules then you may know more about the system here.

Look people...I am not professing to be an expert on what on earth will happen with legalized weed here in WA state. What I do know is that with the rules in place I can grow weed legally and make money doing it. Works for me:)

Michigan is an absolute fucking joke right now the GOP and Syder at the wheel , Syder and the GOP already hit the iceberg, their ship is taking on water, Syder toes are getting wet but they just don't think MMJ Voters this fall in Michigan will get out and vote them to the bottom of the Sea, it's coming you NERD it's coming :finger: