What did legalization mean for your local area?

So to those of you that live in places where recreational and home growing laws have passed, what changes did that bring about for you?

How did it affect your prices?

Did it cause you to loose business?

Were there an abundance of growers that came out the woodwork?

Did it create jobs you were interested in locally?

Generally does this hurt the home growers business or not?

Anything I'm not thinking of please add.

ProPheT 216 said:

So to those of you that live in places where recreational and home growing laws have passed, what changes did that bring about for you?

How did it affect your prices?

Did it cause you to loose business?

Were there an abundance of growers that came out the woodwork?

Did it create jobs you were interested in locally?

Generally does this hurt the home growers business or not?

Anything I'm not thinking of please add.

Click to expand...

It pushed the price of weed down to the point that international crime gangs don't sell weed in Oregon any more.

Good riddance. We need to do the same with other drugs.

Your post makes me wonder if you pine for the good old days when the ATF was bashing down doors and shooting the home owner's dog because they found traces of marijuana in the home owner's trash. Fuck that.

I'm a home grower and not a business. I've never bought from a dispensary, but I'm happy to see them. As we knew leading up to legalization, taxes are stifling legitimate cannabis business.

For me, the best thing is I won't go to jail for growing the most versatile plant we've been given. Here, only complaints from neighbors will send the police, and even then, it will likely be a code violation and I'll have to cut my crop to the legal limit of 6 plants. Be quiet and cool with your neighbors and you'll be alright. My neighbors that use it get it free. It's like growing too many tomatoes to me.

ProPheT 216 said:

So to those of you that live in places where recreational and home growing laws have passed, what changes did that bring about for you?

How did it affect your prices?

Did it cause you to loose business?

Were there an abundance of growers that came out the woodwork?

Did it create jobs you were interested in locally?

Generally does this hurt the home growers business or not?

Anything I'm not thinking of please add.

Click to expand...

Here in Canada with federal legalization you can grow your own in most places, if you want to bother. An ounce of 24- 26% India is available from the NSLC (government dope) for $120 CDN, cheaper on the res and online with a semi legal dispensary. You can mail and ounce of pot vacuumed packed down into letter size for letter rates. The short answer is with legalization prices have fallen so low it is not worth growing your own unless you really like gardening and smoke a lot. You can legally buy bud, hash, oil, concentrates and edibles here, I can't say it's killed the illegal market, but most of them sell to online dispensaries or native reservations who are also doing a good trade, prices per pound are low though a few hundred dollars for a pound of really good bud at the res. If you want to grow here in Canada you had better run a tight business and not expect big profit margins, but lots of competition.

The bad, people suddenly think they know a whole lot about good weed and its fucking annoying.

The good, people who otherwise wouldn't smoke weed have taken interest.

The ugly, the system is rigged so that big money gets the big profits, and they're letting more people in as the prices fall. The growing laws here allow the Missouri department of health and senior services to come into your home and inspect your grow as they please (within reason) and nobody seems to care.

ProPheT 216 said:

So to those of you that live in places where recreational and home growing laws have passed, what changes did that bring about for you?

How did it affect your prices?

Did it cause you to loose business?

Were there an abundance of growers that came out the woodwork?

Did it create jobs you were interested in locally?

Generally does this hurt the home growers business or not?

Anything I'm not thinking of please add.

Click to expand...

Perhaps the best answer to what happened in Canada are the number of online dispensaries (illegal) and they are only a fraction of the market with the government liquor stores and native reservations making up the rest, nobody sells a bag of weed to their friends anymore, but plenty give it away.

Have a look at these search results to look at the prices and deals, prices are in Canadia dollars and no mailing to America!

Appreciate the responses. Keep them coming

I can take care of myself without fear of a felony manufacturing charge.

I know my dealer is hurting have not purchased anything from him in two months. & he enjoyed what I gave him.
There has been such a slow roll out of legal commercial seller, the city has targeted the 1000 or so stores just selling it over the counter.
My guy been selling since the 70's he had established contacts with hippies though out the country. So there was always a wide variety of product.
There are more growers than ever. But people still want instant results, your talking 4 to 5 months out by the time you have a finished product. I did a lot of work from start to finish. If you don't put the time in you will not get a product worth burning.

It will cause a price drop which overall is not bad. What I think will happen is you will get niche growers that turn out a excellent product. That product will command higher prices if sold. But I am finding a community of swap is the way to go.

This thread is rather timely, as my state is literally voting on this today. I’ve been holding my breath for over 20 years for this - if it happens, but our legislature has threatened to rat-fuck the bill because it’s not a (state) constitutional amendment. I’m older now, have kids, and don’t have anyone to sell since moving years ago. I just wanna be able to quietly do my thing without the threat of having my life and family’s life ruined, and medicate in peace without having to hide like a criminal anymore. None of my neighbors know my “secret identity”.

I know what it meant for me. I was against the initiative from the start, here at ground zero for "legalization". It was the best times there ever was to grow or have access to pot in the years before it passed, before Obama and the dems ruined everything, lol. Every state but ours has home grows till this day, but here you have to be a patient, and or sign into some federal registry list still afaik. Basically telling the gov you are growing if you want more than 4 plants. What a joke!

Medical patients actually had some kind of rights before lega...monopolization, and didn't have to stand in line behind groups of college kids waiting for a bud tender for 15 minutes. They were taken care of very well by legit 3 person 45 plant co-ops.. but now they have to pay taxes and all that BS, instead of making "donations" to the best they could afford.

You basically had a lottery system, and somehow it seems like only the most egotistical know it all growers (who think they are top shit, lol I love those guys though) managed to win the raffles, and would bend over and also jump through big daddy governments hoops like circus animals left and right, while helping build up the legal monopoly for the overlords, and sweeping the black market rug right out from under everyone's feet.

Someone must be pocketing all that money too, because I sure don't see all the supposed legal marijuana revenue actually going back to the public.

Fogdog said:

It pushed the price of weed down to the point that international crime gangs don't sell weed in Oregon any more.

Good riddance. We need to do the same with other drugs.

Click to expand...

Ironic, the war on drugs forcing countries to legalize. Cannabis never should have been included in drug laws. Totally agree we should do that for other drugs too, but then there's a limit, and some of the stuff out there shouldn't be on the market.

According to some politicians and police here in NL, those crime gangs, they switch to other drugs, harder stuff if cannabis is legalized. Bad reasoning of course, as it is those same crime gangs who already sell the other drugs and more people get in touch with them because they want(ed) to buy and sell cannabis.

Tolerating cannabis shops in Amsterdam was a direct result of wanting to keep heroin junkies of the street and is touted as a reason we don’t have that many real junkies since. I believed that, cause it worked and we have far less hard drug junkies than in many countries where cannabis is strictly forbidden. I think now, that was all correlation, I'm thinking the cause was the shops, not the availability of cannabis. Coffeeshops were sort of club houses, no judgement there, friendly people, some Bob Marley, some backgammon or foosball, nearly free coffee or tea. Main thing that was not allowed was alcohol and any other kind of drugs. That's why I hate to see those trendy 'dispensaries', we call 'm take-away shops. They have no soul, they don't have the same function. Social cannabis club like the Spanish have at least sounds better.

So how’s that working out in the US and Canada? Does widely available and affordable cannabis result in less junkies, is that something that's actually researched and reported?

Sativied said:

Ironic, the war on drugs forcing countries to legalize. Cannabis never should have been included in drug laws. Totally agree we should do that for other drugs too, but then there's a limit, and some of the stuff out there shouldn't be on the market.

According to some politicians and police here in NL, those crime gangs, they switch to other drugs, harder stuff if cannabis is legalized. Bad reasoning of course, as it is those same crime gangs who already sell the other drugs and more people get in touch with them because they want(ed) to buy and sell cannabis.

Tolerating cannabis shops in Amsterdam was a direct result of wanting to keep heroin junkies of the street and is touted as a reason we don’t have that many real junkies since. I believed that, cause it worked and we have far less hard drug junkies than in many countries where cannabis is strictly forbidden. I think now, that was all correlation, I'm thinking the cause was the shops, not the availability of cannabis. Coffeeshops were sort of club houses, no judgement there, friendly people, some Bob Marley, some backgammon or foosball, nearly free coffee or tea. Main thing that was not allowed was alcohol and any other kind of drugs. That's why I hate to see those trendy 'dispensaries', we call 'm take-away shops. They have no soul, they don't have the same function. Social cannabis club like the Spanish have at least sounds better.

So how’s that working out in the US and Canada? Does widely available and affordable cannabis result in less junkies, is that something that's actually researched and reported?

Click to expand...

We are just a few years into de-regulation of cannabis. It has been shown that more people are now using cannabis than before deregulation but has it reduced the use of stronger stuff? I don't think we have a good handle on rates of use in the US. Death rates due to opioid are up but that seems to be tied to the introduction of fentanyl onto the illegal street drug scene.

The war on drugs has done much more harm to the US than good if any good came from it at whatsoever. We need ot move toward treating drug use as a health problem where it can be shown that it is harmful and not treat salse, possession use or addiction as a crime. Sensible people should work out a sensible answer. The Oregon cannabis dispensary system has been a success, IMO. I have no issue with dispensaries regulated by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commision. It seems to be working smoothly.

Drop That Sound said:

I know what it meant for me. I was against the initiative from the start, here at ground zero for "legalization". It was the best times there ever was to grow or have access to pot in the years before it passed, before Obama and the dems ruined everything, lol. Every state but ours has home grows till this day, but here you have to be a patient, and or sign into some federal registry list still afaik. Basically telling the gov you are growing if you want more than 4 plants. What a joke!

Medical patients actually had some kind of rights before lega...monopolization, and didn't have to stand in line behind groups of college kids waiting for a bud tender for 15 minutes. They were taken care of very well by legit 3 person 45 plant co-ops.. but now they have to pay taxes and all that BS, instead of making "donations" to the best they could afford.

You basically had a lottery system, and somehow it seems like only the most egotistical know it all growers (who think they are top shit, lol I love those guys though) managed to win the raffles, and would bend over and also jump through big daddy governments hoops like circus animals left and right, while helping build up the legal monopoly for the overlords, and sweeping the black market rug right out from under everyone's feet.

Someone must be pocketing all that money too, because I sure don't see all the supposed legal marijuana revenue actually going back to the public.

Click to expand...

Really importantly, to date, these laws are decided by the state. If you don’t like the laws in your state, it’s got nothing to do with the federal government. I do think we’re moving to a time when weed will be decriminalized federally, but right now, it’s still a controlled substance to the feds.

Best thing about legalization has been the ability to grow my own without any paranoia. Cheap dispo bud around here really isn’t good. There were always lots of local growers, and most have just kept doing what they were doing. Two shops have opened within a few miles of me in recent months. Haven’t been to either one, though I believe it should be legal and I’m happy people have easy access if they want or need it. I’ve really enjoyed continuing to learn to grow. It is cheaper than even cheap bud arid here, and better when you get it right.

I think there’s also a stigma associated with use that will slowly fade. I like not having to feel like I’m being sneaky, subversive or criminal. In the past, I might have embraced some of those concepts as they relate to weed, but big picture, that’s not a great thing for one’s psyche, arguably. I still keep it low in certain circles.

Massachusetts, new jobs in grows and bud tenders in the dispos. Oz is a hundred now, was triple that. Lot more vaping and edibles. Locally this masshole is 200 yards away

Low end quality has come up a lot, while high end quality is harder to find. We don't have legal sales here yet but all the analogs are sold delta 8, 10, cbd carts, Kratos, etc. DC is not much of a drive where dispensaries have brought prices down a good bit, some black market dealers are still getting their old rates but their a dying bread. A health black market still exist just not as profitable. I grow worry free of legal issues and don't have to buy flower.
On average weed is much better and cheaper, anything seedless even beasters brought $50/8th pre Prohibition an it's $10/g now and way better then beasters. Super high-end shit is harder to find and is still $20/g (never more the price use to go as high as $35) think growers keep the best shit for themselves since the whole sale market has changed so much. fake weed(hemp with a lot of thc-a and no delta9) is $10/g in the smoke shops
I'm hearing more credible accounts of black market weed being "laced" then I ever was willing to believe during prohibition is probably the biggest down side so far here.

topcat said:

Here, only complaints from neighbors will send the police, and even then, it will likely be a code violation and I'll have to cut my crop to the legal limit of 6 plants.

Click to expand...

Apparently it's not like that here in AZ, despite being legal. It appears that any possession/cultivation that's outside of the legal limits will be treated as a felony. Any outdoor growing is supposed to be done in a locked building, and plants can't be in public view. With as many sheriffs and cops drive by my place every damn day, I was sweating bullets over my few outdoor plants, especially when my neighbor told me he could smell them all the way across the road.

Every single time I've bought from a dispensary since they started popping up around here, the weed has been ridiculously bland. Never much of any smell or taste. With such shitty quality, I don't get how they seem to be thriving. There's gotta be near 20 dispensaries now in Gallup, NM, a city of around 20k people. The handful I've bought from all seem to be peddling the same low-end shit, so it would seem the competition hasn't lifted quality at all. I'd pick up a gram here and there, to see if I'd come across something I wanna grow, but it's kinda pointless when it all tastes and smells like nothing.

Just in the past few weeks, someone petitioned the local board to open a dispensary here in my pitiful little town. I'm not sure if the intended location is officially on Navajo Reservation land, or if it's just close enough that they have some serious say in the matter, but it looks like it's gonna get shot down. I saw a lot of the complaints were trying to equivocate customers at a weed dispensary to a bunch of drunks stumbling around a liquor store. It's a dry county, so I guess that idiocy shouldn't surprise me.

My state and a bunch all around seemed to legalize or at least decriminalize around the same time. Dispos popped up around me, business slowed to a trickle. People flocking for $20 1/8's of straw smelling dry tea bag garbage shwag. I kept right on growing, jarring, curing. Passed out a few samples and I can quote texts, but mine is a billion times better. Seems I've turned this franchise around.

I need to thank farmers for growing weed like it's corn. The dispo owners for buying it. And the morons behind the counter selling it. I will agree that they do attract new people who otherwise wouldn't partake. Some do enjoy it, then move on to small private growers offering way better smoke. But most try the dispo garbage and don't understand what all the hype was about, then they never try it again. Very unfortunate

I'll post the texts in my journal, you know I can't help it.

In Oklahoma we have very few regs on growing if you have a commercial license. No canopy limits or numbers of plants. They did stop issuing commercial license for a while. The flooding of the market with low quality product has driven the quality down. I am a home grower and just sit back and smoke my own. I have not bought from a dispensary since I started growing myself. The flooding of the market also caused an explosion of dispos opening when it first got voted in here. But now dispensaries are closing left and right.