Recreational marijuana and registered marijuana grows are legal in California. Dicus, however, cited the marijuana black market as a cause of violence.
“The plague is the black market of marijuana and certainly cartel activity, and a number of victims are out there,” he said.
I live in California. I have gummies and a vape that I bought at corner stores. How is this still a thing? I’m genuinely curious. Why are people still dying over pot if I can buy it legally?
“The plague is the black market of marijuana …”
No. The plague is America’s war on drugs that creates the perfect storm for cartels to operate in.
In this specific scenario, the problem is black market Marijuana. In a place where there is a handful of dispensaries, anyone over 21 can walk in and buy Marijuana, where the sheriffs don’t give a damm about if you got pot. The core of this incident was “blackmarket” Marijuana. Probably also with the heightened tensions with a number of dealers getting pinched and lots of sheriff operations in the area.
Why are people still dying over pot if I can buy it legally?
It might not have been heading for California. Lots of states around where it’s still illegal as hell. Which the black market was already setup to provide to so they still do it.
Too many cities ban legal retail, so they left the market in the hands of criminals.
Prohibition is still propping up the black market.
I can’t speak for California but in many states in the US medical and recreational weed is expensive.
There is still a black market for it because the black market is cheaper. For example in MA you can either buy it at a dispensary for $60 an 1/8th or go to the black market for half the price.
Not everyone who consumes weed wants to be registered or pay through the nose if they can find a dealer on the black market that is considerably cheaper and anonymous.
The black market will never go away unless they can make recreational access cheaper than what it costs to truck it into the US from Mexico. I don’t ever see that happening.
Even in California, lots of illegal pot farms selling for cheaper than legal stores. Less taxes, less Q/C, less overhead etc. dont even need to pay over the border shipping.
I keep hearing how other states outside of CO are getting bent over on weed prices while I pay 60 for an ounce of decent stuff.
This is true. But keep in mind that when things started in CO prices were also really expensive.
Over time as more and more dispensaries open there will be more supply which will shift things to be cheaper. Hopefully.
Michigan is really cheap, too. I’ve heard that we get people coming from Illinois (also a legal state) because it’s cheaper here.
Sounds like these dudes needed to smoke a bowl and chill.
Consider the source, it’s totally possible the cops are leaving out information or straight up lying to push their own agenda here
Cops hate legalization because they can’t sell the drugs they seize.
Also, if/when they want to harass someone all they need to do is say “sniff sniff I smell marijuana, so now I get to search through all your stuff without a warrant” and they hate losing that
I really don’t get how anyone buys dark market weed just to save a dollar or two. Fucking with the quality like this is just disrespectful.
The difference is way more than a dollar or two depending on where in the US you’re referring to.
If you consume an ounce a month you’ll be saving thousands of dollars a year by purchasing off the black market. Seems like a no brainer.
Personally I’d rather spend the extra money for quality control and not having to deal with some dickhead fucking me around. But to each their own. Different priorities for different people.
Twenty years ago in High School, good weed was about $60/eighth in CA. $40 was for decent stuff.
With legalization, I can get decent stuff for $25 now — twenty years of inflation later. Anecdotal, sure, but it’s way cheaper for me now.
