U.S. cannabis shoppers face a market flush with illegal weed

[Chilli]

Growing something of quality to finish is much harder than you think.

Hi. Yeah that's true.

 

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[Tesorodeoro]

There is likely a billion dollars in cartel weed growing in my county alone. Everyone says “legalize it and tax it”. These folks are all about evading laws and regulations. It’s said they use human trafficking for laborers. I suspect they are indentured servants. They get some cash, a truck, and a garden shed to live in. They use dozens of look outs every day. They seem to be using push to talk cell phones. The language barrier helps conceal the goings on.

I suspect taxing it might promote gov. corruption.

 

[cuts]

Today's weed sure smells good.

 

[DizzyDigger]

It just amazes me, when money is involved, how divisive people can become over a simple plant.

I've grown MJ in every way imaginable. Aeroponics, hydroponics, deep water culture, soil, coco, perlite, ebb and flo...and in the end settled on just growing in good old soil. I don't mean that Miracle Gro garbage they sell, but a decent soil mix with good, organic stuff in it. Although I've been approached with many offers, I have never grown for commercial or black market sale.

I was a site Admin and moderator back in the days of Overgrow.com (and others), and, via the web, have taught thousands of folks how to grow their own.

As a legit medical patient living in Washington state, I am allowed to grow up to 15 plants of my own. For the past 18 months I've been buying from the local retail stores, as growing is a lot of work (if you're going to do it right) and the retail prices are low enough that it makes sense. I can still grow killer bud, but running 2kw of lights 12-24 hrs. a day isn't cheap.

Washington state makes bank off of commercial MJ sales. They get a 25% tax from the grower to the packager, and another 25% when the packager sells to the retailer, plus state sales tax when sold to consumer. I have no idea wtf they're doing with the money.

Prices can run from amazingly cheap to kinda spendy, depending on what you buy.
Right now I can get an ounce (28gr) of Super Silver Haze for $24.50 (nope, that's not a typo). There are several other strains where an OZ is around $50.00, and an eighth of high-end (decent) bud will cost you in the area of $25-$45. The cheap stuff is schwaggy weed..not worth the investment, but there are a number of growers that offer a fairly decent product for the money, and it's sufficient for my needs.

I agree with some of the other posters, in that getting a MMJ card is a bit of a joke. Last one I had was in 2007, and to get one today they want to register you in some state database so they can keep en eye on you. They can bite me...not gonna happen.

This is a bud of a local Blackberry strain I used to grow. First hit of this and your mouth feels as if you ate a spoonful of blackberry jelly. Always thought of it as "dessert bud".

 

[Tesorodeoro]

It just amazes me, when money is involved, how divisive people can become over a simple plant.

I've grown MJ in every way imaginable. Aeroponics, hydroponics, deep water culture, soil, coco, perlite, ebb and flo...and in the end settled on just growing in good old soil. I don't mean that Miracle Gro garbage they sell, but a decent soil mix with good, organic stuff in it. Although I've been approached with many offers, I have never grown for commercial or black market sale.

I was a site Admin and moderator back in the days of Overgrow.com (and others), and, via the web, have taught thousands of folks how to grow their own.

As a legit medical patient living in Washington state, I am allowed to grow up to 15 plants of my own. For the past 18 months I've been buying from the local retail stores, as growing is a lot of work (if you're going to do it right) and the retail prices are low enough that it makes sense. I can still grow killer bud, but running 2kw of lights 12-24 hrs. a day isn't cheap.

Washington state makes bank off of commercial MJ sales. They get a 25% tax from the grower to the packager, and another 25% when the packager sells to the retailer, plus state sales tax when sold to consumer. I have no idea wtf they're doing with the money.

Prices can run from amazingly cheap to kinda spendy, depending on what you buy.
Right now I can get an ounce (28gr) of Super Silver Haze for $24.50 (nope, that's not a typo). There are several other strains where an OZ is around $50.00, and an eighth of high-end (decent) bud will cost you in the area of $25-$45. The cheap stuff is schwaggy weed..not worth the investment, but there are a number of growers that offer a fairly decent product for the money, and it's sufficient for my needs.

I agree with some of the other posters, in that getting a MMJ card is a bit of a joke. Last one I had was in 2007, and to get one today they want to register you in some state database so they can keep en eye on you. They can bite me...not gonna happen.

This is a bud of a local Blackberry strain I used to grow. First hit of this and your mouth feels as if you ate a spoonful of blackberry jelly. Always thought of it as "dessert bud".

View attachment 2192320

Here is my divisiveness. I am pissed off because the Mexican cartel poisoned many of the watersheds in our remote area. I’ve seen what they do. The hundreds of full and half empty plastic containers of insecticide, pallets of broken fertilizer bags, containers with skull and cross bones on it rotting in the sun just waiting for a bear to chew it open. Speaking of bears, the plastic trash bags full of burger mixed with rat poison buried in the ground as a trap. The bags of bird feed mixed with poison. This went on for 15 years heavy. It’s complete BS and I hope no lover of the weed makes excuses for foreign nationals to ruin our land and poach the animals!! Cannot safely drink out of any of the creeks anymore.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

So they would dig a large hole in the ground and line it with plastic and dump all these fertilizers and insecticides and nerve agents into the cistern, then run it through all the pipes feeding the plants. After seeing that, I’d never smoke weed unless I knew who grew it personally.

Once it tests positive for nerve agents, the law enforcement backs out and it becomes a hazardous cleanup. Sometimes going through a winter until they get to it.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Then I could go on and on about the two other Asian cartels.

 

[Oregon Viking]

It just amazes me, when money is involved, how divisive people can become over a simple plant.

I've grown MJ in every way imaginable. Aeroponics, hydroponics, deep water culture, soil, coco, perlite, ebb and flo...and in the end settled on just growing in good old soil. I don't mean that Miracle Gro garbage they sell, but a decent soil mix with good, organic stuff in it. Although I've been approached with many offers, I have never grown for commercial or black market sale.

I was a site Admin and moderator back in the days of Overgrow.com (and others), and, via the web, have taught thousands of folks how to grow their own.

As a legit medical patient living in Washington state, I am allowed to grow up to 15 plants of my own. For the past 18 months I've been buying from the local retail stores, as growing is a lot of work (if you're going to do it right) and the retail prices are low enough that it makes sense. I can still grow killer bud, but running 2kw of lights 12-24 hrs. a day isn't cheap.

Washington state makes bank off of commercial MJ sales. They get a 25% tax from the grower to the packager, and another 25% when the packager sells to the retailer, plus state sales tax when sold to consumer. I have no idea wtf they're doing with the money.

Prices can run from amazingly cheap to kinda spendy, depending on what you buy.
Right now I can get an ounce (28gr) of Super Silver Haze for $24.50 (nope, that's not a typo). There are several other strains where an OZ is around $50.00, and an eighth of high-end (decent) bud will cost you in the area of $25-$45. The cheap stuff is schwaggy weed..not worth the investment, but there are a number of growers that offer a fairly decent product for the money, and it's sufficient for my needs.

I agree with some of the other posters, in that getting a MMJ card is a bit of a joke. Last one I had was in 2007, and to get one today they want to register you in some state database so they can keep en eye on you. They can bite me...not gonna happen.

This is a bud of a local Blackberry strain I used to grow. First hit of this and your mouth feels as if you ate a spoonful of blackberry jelly. Always thought of it as "dessert bud".

View attachment 2192320

I hear you!!!!!

 

[jeff of pa]

make Anything Illegal & it beomes a Money Maker !
i'm Conviced If they Made Something So Usless As Poison Ivy Illegal to Possess & Grow. there would inmmedialy be a market for it

& the price would rise with The law. if there is a death sentence, it would rise to thousands for one plant, and they would get it

 

[ARC]

Here is my divisiveness. I am pissed off because the Mexican cartel poisoned many of the watersheds in our remote area. I’ve seen what they do. The hundreds of full and half empty plastic containers of insecticide, pallets of broken fertilizer bags, containers with skull and cross bones on it rotting in the sun just waiting for a bear to chew it open. Speaking of bears, the plastic trash bags full of burger mixed with rat poison buried in the ground as a trap. The bags of bird feed mixed with poison. This went on for 15 years heavy. It’s complete BS and I hope no lover of the weed makes excuses for foreign nationals to ruin our land and poach the animals!! Cannot safely drink out of any of the creeks anymore.

You can simply blame the lame lies and laws.
Then blame the slow crawl / back-out of that law that is currently going on... WAY too slowly as the SOLE reason for any of this.
The Gov created that mess you speak of by making it lucrative.

 

[beepbleep]

There is likely a billion dollars in cartel weed growing in my county alone. Everyone says “legalize it and tax it”. These folks are all about evading laws and regulations. It’s said they use human trafficking for laborers. I suspect they are indentured servants. They get some cash, a truck, and a garden shed to live in. They use dozens of look outs every day. They seem to be using push to talk cell phones. The language barrier helps conceal the goings on.

I suspect taxing it might promote gov. corruption.

I don't have that problem where I live. Besides, those folks won't be around much longer. That's changing for the better. We don't need that.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Here is my divisiveness. I am pissed off because the Mexican cartel poisoned many of the watersheds in our remote area. I’ve seen what they do. The hundreds of full and half empty plastic containers of insecticide, pallets of broken fertilizer bags, containers with skull and cross bones on it rotting in the sun just waiting for a bear to chew it open. Speaking of bears, the plastic trash bags full of burger mixed with rat poison buried in the ground as a trap. The bags of bird feed mixed with poison. This went on for 15 years heavy. It’s complete BS and I hope no lover of the weed makes excuses for foreign nationals to ruin our land and poach the animals!! Cannot safely drink out of any of the creeks anymore.

You (and every other human) have every right to be pissed off at those idiots, and IMO I hope they bust them all and stick 'em in prison for decades. Those are cartel grows, and I'm hoping the US military will soon be putting them (cartels) out of business, with extreme prejudice.

Permanently.

Most of those creeks and streams are coming out of ponds and lakes in the higher country, and I know Calif. has a healthy beaver population. If you'd like to avoid a bad case of Giardia, also known as "Beaver Fever", then I'd boil that water before drinking it. JMHO

 

[Tpmetal]

I think it seems a bit different with some. They might of tried it 40-50yrs ago.
Now they tried it again, and they're sat down.

I've known a couple that have just rusted out, but their claim they were worn out.
From being pretty active to not, and the only thing they changed was taking up smoking.

Just an observation that's all.
Last toke was 38 yrs ago in May.

It's all about the person and what they choose to do. Same applies to those who sit infront of a tv all the time. Same to this who just sit around drinking all evening. So it's not really the cannabis, it's the choices they make to sit and do nothing.

 

[pepperj]

It's all about the person and what they choose to do. Same applies to those who sit infront of a tv all the time. Same to this who just sit around drinking all evening. So it's not really the cannabis, it's the choices they make to sit and do nothing.

From looking in the window instead of looking out.(means that I don't have to any substances)
I have known a good many of good people that have discovered being high later in life was excellent.
Problem with this us they also had the financial means to carry on with thus.

Some have the creativity spurts when smoking, some have the bag of chips and TV.
I just don't see alot of triathlon training after blowing a doobie.

 

[Tpmetal]

From looking in the window instead of looking out.(means that I don't have to any substances)
I have known a good many of good people that have discovered being high later in life was excellent.
Problem with this us they also had the financial means to carry on with thus.

Some have the creativity spurts when smoking, some have the bag of chips and TV.
I just don't see alot of triathlon training after blowing a doobie.

Nick and nate Diaz, professional fighters who also did triathlons. That's just one of many off the top of my head. I know many others personally who smoke and still go to the gym and play sports( I used to be one of those playing soccer till I torn my knee up). Point being there are many on both sides and it still comes down to personal decisions on what to do not the cannabis.

 

[Tpmetal]

From looking in the window instead of looking out.(means that I don't have to any substances)
I have known a good many of good people that have discovered being high later in life was excellent.
Problem with this us they also had the financial means to carry on with thus.

Some have the creativity spurts when smoking, some have the bag of chips and TV.
I just don't see alot of triathlon training after blowing a doobie.

Think of it like this, does everyone who drinks beer become an alcoholic who goes home and beats their wife?

 

[pepperj]

Think of it like this, does everyone who drinks beer become an alcoholic who goes home and beats their wife?

Of course not, and that's a whole different subject.
I stated an observation of real life, folks that worked for me, customers, friends, neighbors.
I really don't care what a person does in life.
I have been down the road, walked in the shoes, and I have the opinion that productivity does slow when the smoke 🚬 occurs.

Yes everyone is wired different than everyone else.

Some get very productive and creative.

But still it must do something to impair the functioning mind, or they wouldn't have set laws on operating vehicles as booze impairs.

I was very close of having my life being ended from a person that blew a joint at lunch. Then bounced a 5hp horizontal Swan compressor of me, after lunch while rigging it off a 9ft mezzanine.
It has its place, but not in the workplace.

 

[ARC]

Just so we are clear..... Cannabis is responsible for more than anyone here will ever know.
It is truly the SINGLE MOST remarkable plant ON THE ENTIRE PLANET... no other plant even compares in its uses.
Period.
No other growth ... be it tree OR plant on this planet compares.

Did you know this ?

Not one plant or tree can be used for even HALF of the uses of this God given gift.

So when you bitch and moan about this and that about cannabis remember that pharma has been trying to imitate it chemically AND eliminate it competitively via politically since day one of go.

Do not be a shlep and fall for the BS and think that stereotyping people into a couch lock haze is the norm or result of ingesting cannabis in general... for this is false.
There are different strains for different situations.
The old adages that it is harmful IN ANY WAY to use has been the scare tactic battle cry used by those with an agenda AND too scared to except the truth and accept the fact they have been lied to.
Nothing could be further from the reality / truth to think this any longer.
This is the type of propaganda that has kept this truly beneficial plant from the mainstreams grasp.
AND ITS BEEN On purpose all along.. So more money could be made without competition selling YOU the sh-t they could control and make from cheap chemicals with a high return...that will kill ya slowly.

50% of the world now sees through the BS.... and growing.
And ya aint gonna be a couch locked hippie with a bong in your hand just because you tried it or use it for medicinal purposes. (this actually makes me sick to think people think this because half their neighbors if not more than half smoke the crap)

People who don't believe what i say are either stupid or blind.... or both.

Keep your laws off peoples bodies in the name of personal Freedom...(Freedom...Remember that ?)
Get sane... and stop the grasping at BS backed stereotyped propaganda and get with reality.
Abolish the laws that enable / create the corruptive allure.

Those who crave control need to step off... for they are like dogs chasing their own tails with everyone including entire other countries... laughing at OR disliking them for it anyway.

Time for America to FULLY grow a brain.

 

[Tpmetal]

Of course not, and that's a whole different subject.
I stated an observation of real life, folks that worked for me, customers, friends, neighbors.
I really don't care what a person does in life.
I have been down the road, walked in the shoes, and I have the opinion that productivity does slow when the smoke 🚬 occurs.

Yes everyone is wired different than everyone else.

Some get very productive and creative.

But still it must do something to impair the functioning mind, or they wouldn't have set laws on operating vehicles as booze impairs.

I was very close of having my life being ended from a person that blew a joint at lunch. Then bounced a 5hp horizontal Swan compressor of me, after lunch while rigging it off a 9ft mezzanine.
It has its place, but not in the workplace.

100 percent yes not in the work place, and yes it impairs you. I agree and support not driving or anything like that just the same as alcohol. I think we are pretty much on the same page. I just hate the stigmas associated with cannabis being used to bring a negative light to it when I have seen it help so many people. So I'm probably just being too sensitive about it.

 

[Tpmetal]

Just so we are clear..... Cannabis is responsible for more than anyone here will ever know.
It is truly the SINGLE MOST remarkable plant ON THE ENTIRE PLANET... no other plant even compares in its uses.
Period.
No other growth ... be it tree OR plant on this planet compares.

Did you know this ?

Not one plant or tree can be used for even HALF of the uses of this God given gift.

So when you bitch and moan about this and that about cannabis remember that pharma has been trying to imitate it chemically AND eliminate it competitively via politically since day one of go.

Do not be a shlep and fall for the BS and think that stereotyping people into a couch lock haze is the norm or result of ingesting cannabis in general... for this is false.
There are different strains for different situations.
The old adages that it is harmful IN ANY WAY to use has been the scare tactic battle cry used by those with an agenda AND too scared to except the truth and accept the fact they have been lied to.
Nothing could be further from the reality / truth to think this any longer.
This is the type of propaganda that has kept this truly beneficial plant from the mainstreams grasp.
AND ITS BEEN On purpose all along.. So more money could be made without competition selling YOU the sh-t they could control and make from cheap chemicals with a high return...that will kill ya slowly.

50% of the world now sees through the BS.... and growing.
And ya aint gonna be a couch locked hippie with a bong in your hand just because you tried it or use it for medicinal purposes. (this actually makes me sick to think people think this because half their neighbors if not more than half smoke the crap)

People who don't believe what i say are either stupid or blind.... or both.

Keep your laws off peoples bodies in the name of personal Freedom...(Freedom...Remember that ?)
Get sane... and stop the grasping at BS backed stereotyped propaganda and get with reality.
Abolish the laws that enable / create the corruptive allure.

Those who crave control need to step off... for they are like dogs chasing their own tails with everyone including entire other countries... laughing at OR disliking them for it anyway.

Time for America to FULLY grow a brain.

Preach!