Pullout Apr 11, 2012 at 4:00 am

Some Say an Invasion of Out-of-State Bud Is Driving Down Cannabis Quality

Local medical growers can’t compete.

Comments

1
Northwest Cannabis Market in White Center is the BEST!!!!
2
"Medical standards." That's pretty funny!
3
Considering the huge profits involved, someone ought to be looking into whether or not the dispensaries are vertically integrating with the community gardens.

Pretty sweet deals to be had. Grow it for $20 an ounce, sell it for $300 and up. If I ran a dispensary and had a community garden or four on the side, I'd be spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the competition too.

By the way, I don't smoke it or grow it. I might be the only commenter without a vested interest, other than following the money. Which you can bet the Stranger will never dare do.
4
Another thought: Could it be that the local market is getting saturated, and that we're seeing price competition? Sure, uh, smells like it.

Here we have the local dispensary attacking the cheaper competition for being "foreign." Sounds like what's really happening is that profit margins are under pressure.

That raises the next issue. Maybe marijuana isn't as popular as the stoners want to imagine. If the market is showing signs of saturation at this point, maybe the demand is somewhat limited.

So much for your prediction (in the New York Times) of $600 million in tax revenue if the state steps in, joins hands with "local" growers, and splits cartel profits under the guise of "legalization."

Oh, what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive!
5
Not all of that cannabis is medical, either. Plenty of illicit operations crop up in national forests and state parks.

"This is organized crime at its finest," Westgate continues. "They grow 60 to 100 acres at a time, and they can afford to sell it for much less. I just don't think people understand how much of an invasion is here."


Puh-leeeze! The dispensaries are selling "medical" marijuana if it comes from a community garden, but if it comes from a plantation it's "organized crime" and, what, not medical?

Such pretzel logic. Use Occam's Razor to cut through all of that: medical marijuana is a figleaf. Everyone knows it. Come on, Dominic, I don't have to be stoned to laugh at you.
6
Some Say an Invasion of Out-of-State Bud Is Driving Down Cannabis Quality?? <<<< That's a TOTAL JOKE!! Either what you grow is good or it's not. Sounds like they're bitter because CA has BETTER POT and it's cheaper.

Green Buddha is a place I'll both avoid, and let my friends know NOT to go there.

"The result, according to some members of the local cannabis community, is a surge of lower-quality pot."

"As a result of that competition, some dispensaries may carry out-of-state pot that costs less and looks good, but may have a lower potency and a mysterious provenance."

California has some of the best quality medical marijuana. The legalization and opening of dispensaries increased the demand for a higher quality product not reduced it. Washington growers need to step-up if they want to compete. That's how a free economy works.
7
I just think it is simply a saturation problem. I have been a patient for two !/2 years and have observed dispensaries grow in number from about a half dozen to ,what, about 50 or 60 in the tri-county area. Common sense tells you that the local growers of small operations can't keep up with the demand of this many dispensaries. Product has to come from somewhere. I find that shops advertising local, organic weed with testing results clearly and honestly labeled give me the best weed. Urban Legends in White Center is a perfect example of a quality, trusted vendor.
8
I too call bullshit. We are talking about a crop here, the only factor in it's inflated price is it's illegality, you do not have to be a wizard to grow pot. I'm from out of state, it was apparent within my first few visits to "highly rated" local dispensaries I was surprised by just how much of a sham it all was. Bud quality is sub-par in most places, and I often found jars of shake being displayed for $10/g. Some do sell decent, even dank bud, but remember, they are still drug dealers.
9
I live out of state and I wish my state would allow us to sell to your state. I have 4 patients and myself which allows me to grow 30 plants which yields far more then myself and my patients can use. If your state has a shortage and it becomes legal for me to provide your dispensaries with my medicine I believe that would be great the quality is far better then you give us farmers credit for. In fact other growers here are currently supplying you with medicine (which I know is good) except they risk criminal charges for doing so

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