Great article. I really wish we'd stop worrying about the retail aspect on business, when it's perfectly legal to go on seattle.janeslist.org right now and sell your stuff. 502 decriminalized purchases, dealers should be saavy enough to know how to play the game online. Figure it out or go the way of the dodo.

Dumb question for Stranger staff regarding legalization: I know these black market dealers are taking a personal risk by selling without a license, but what's the legal status of their customers? Is it legal for me to walk up to someone on the street and say "good sir, I am interested in procuring some marijuana to smoke. Would you happen to be selling any?" or is there still something I could be cited for if I did that?

Duh, and I see the comment right before mine apparently answers my question. True?

@2/3: The first comment does answer your question, but it answers it incorrectly. It's not perfectly legal for people to sell weed on that site at all. Whether someone will care enough to do anything about it is another matter.

Nowhere in the story is the question of why the "illegal" dealer will always be cheaper than the State Licensed stores (thus the black market will continue to exist).

Yup, definitely a good article. My biggest concern was price.

I mean, if the state follows the President's advice, the goal is to drive out the cartels, mafia, etc., right?

And in order to do that, the state has to compete on price, quality, and convenience, which is going to be very difficult since with taxes an ounce of good retail weed here costs 3 or 4 times as much as black market product.

The good news is that I read yesterday where a retail chain in Denver is now selling high quality product for 85 bucks an ounce. That will kill the cartel profit margin right there.

I really hope we can keep the local crafters like the folks in these interviews. For as long as I've stomped the Earth they've been the backbone of this industry. We wouldn't even have an industry without them.

This is kind of a really boring article.

who did the illos on this?

I keep seeing people talk about cutting.out the cartels and mafia, and I can't help but laugh. Maybe it's different in other states, but this is Washington. There are no cartel or mafia run weed dealers here. Eve ryone here knows where their weed comes from, it's pretty much all local growers. This Mafia talk is just silly.

@9: Everyone here knows where their weed comes from

Yeah, no. I was in the waiting room of a dispensary a couple of years ago when two enormous, scary looking Mexican guys came in with a large brief case, showed their passports at the window, and were immediately shown to the back room. The Mexican cartels have been selling tons of weed around here, hopefully less so now.

@9 - Mexican cartels have well documented presence all up and down the west coast. They've reaped quite a bit of havoc to hold onto their portion of the weed market.

A study from Mexico estimates legalization in Washington and Colorado could cost Mexican cartels over $1B.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01…

Derp, the WREAKED, not reaped, havoc. That would be way too much havoc in one tractor.

@9 I can relate to phallus of woe!

@6: 3 or 4 times the black market price?

winterlife will sell you an ounce for $200. tonight.

the state store price will come down - give it a year until legalization gets boring.

@4, the fact that it's illegal to sell on that site is irrelevant to my question, which is whether it's legal for people to buy via sellers that are themselves breaking the law. Whether on the street or on janeslist, the seller is breaking the law. Is the buyer?

BTW, the fact that there are taxes and restrictions and regulations won't necessarily ensure that black market weed will always be available. Look at alcohol: you could produce it and sell it yourself illegally without all that stuff, but that's not what happens. The market has stabilized to the point where it doesn't make sense to risk selling it illegally, nor does it make much sense to risk buying it from an illegal seller. (On a large scale, anyway; I'm sure there is still bootlegging here and there) If legal weed becomes available enough and the punishment for illegal dealing is severe enough (and enforced enough), then that market will fade away too.

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