It just keeps getting “better” (heh) for the legal pot industry.
According to Kristen Wyatt, reporting for the Associated Press, legal and commercial marijuana growers in states like Colorado and Washington must be on the lookout for two things that can quickly wreck havoc on their plants: mildew and spider mites. (The same is also true for illegal growers, of course.) Both pests can create a multi-million headache very quickly for commercial growers if not treated properly.
But there’s a problem. Some growers, including those in states where medical marijuana use is legal, are turning to industrial-strength pesticides to treat their plants. No wait, there are two problems. Marijuana is considered an illicit crop by the federal government, so there is no roadmap on the use of pesticides on marijuana plants. And chemists and horticulturists can’t help much either because marijuana is used in various ways such as smoked, eaten, and as an oil rubbed on the skin. There’s virtually NOTHING available in the scientific community to tell growers how to grow and maintain an illegal crop for sale safely to the general public. Nothing.
So here’s what’s happening. Colorado recently sent out state employees to seize and test thousands of commercial pot plants for pesticides. No alarming results so far, yet none of the tests included pesticides which have been BANNED for use in the US. Oregon, which allows use of pot for medical use (what a farce), has discovered that some growers are using banned pesticides on their pot plant farms. Nothing like a little DDT with you doobie, eh, mate?
Think about that. The entrepreneurs in the legal marijuana states, the growers, transporters, and retail sellers have NO access to the banking system (banks don’t want to touch a client dealing in a product outlawed by federal law), and now have to contend with safety issues of their product for which there are no guidelines. They are subjected to lawsuits from lawyers who will contend an aggrieved client was harmed by buying legal weed.
I love it. The legal pot industry will have to pay more money for extra state employees to inspect and certify state sanctioned weed is safe, further deteriorating profits expected from legal marijuana sales. I’m guessing that pot sales in Colorado and Washington are already at a break even point and not a profit. This latest issue will take both of theses states into a net loss for legalizing marijuana.
But it’s all about liberty, isn’t it?
What did SSS just say?
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I read recently that some of these electronic cigarette companies are negotiating with RJ Reynolds to formulate the poison….I mean juice….that goes into these things.
WTF? Only in America can a device intended to help people quit smoking morph into a continuing lifestyle choice in which the companies that poisoned people with cigarettes will end up poisoning the idiots using this new device. How the fuck do people get so stupid? I’d really like to know.
Weed smokers by and large are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Here in WA state these morons were first surprised that they had to pay tax on legal weed once it became legal. Dumbasses! Now their pissed because they’re getting DUI’s for being high. Here in WA, most people who smoke weed have a medical card that allows them to grow their own weed. Even with the limits on # of plants, they grow way more than they can smoke. They tried selling the excess on the side but everyone else was growing their own also. Instead of growing less weed they continue to grow as much as they are allowed too and now they try to give it away. I’m talking big black trash bags of high grade weed and they still can’t get rid of it all.
I have yet to see a legal weed shop but then again I’m not looking for them. I am curious how they work though. Can you buy anonymously with cash or do they want your life story and a credit/debit card? One day before too long I fully expect some bureaucrat to somehow tie legal weed purchasers to concealed carry permits holders and start filling prisons. I have heard that the cops are unhappy about not being able to bust pot smokers anymore.
Why do I find this so funny? Stupid dope smoking hippie clowns.
“But it’s all about liberty, isn’t it?” ———- SSS
Yes.
I thought I’d heard that legal sellers in Colorado can’t use credit cards or debit cards because of banks’ refusal to work with them. So they’re stuck with piles of currency. Aside from being hard to spend currency, it makes them a target .
Stucky aka Your Royal Stickiness
I said “It’s all about liberty” with tongue-in-cheek. It’s all about common sense, of which you occasionally lack.
The black market, coupled with the stupidity of voters and government bureaucracy, will kill the legal pot market. Period. But take heart. Colorado and Washington will end up spending millions of tax dollars on this foolishness before they give up.
Decriminalization, not legalization. That’s the ticket.
@ I_S – you can buy weed in WA and CO by showing a valid ID which indicates you are 21 or older. Easy peasy. I’m 100% confident that there are no underage buyers who are using fake IDs. Heh.
“What did SSS just say?”
—-Admin
Let me summarize for you: legalization of marijuana is a fucking joke. Please advise if that statement lacks clarity.
Grow organic, For life!
SSS- No company makes a device that will play your tired old media, one would have to search the antique stores, to listen to your same old tune.
The sky isnt falling, in fact our economy is booming.
That said, dont smoke the dispensary shit it is definitely soaked in pesticide.
“SSS- No company makes a device that will play your tired old media, one would have to search the antique stores, to listen to your same old tune.”
—-Blottomatik
I love reminding TBP visitors about how RIGHT I’ve been re the legalization of marijuana. It’s up there with my favorite pastime, golf, while the legal pot crowd keeps saying to themselves, “Oh, we didn’t think about that.” Of course, you didn’t, assholes, because you’re fucking stupid.
The Colorado Department of Revenue’s just-released marijuana tax data for May 2015 shows schools as the clear winner.
In the first five months of 2015, the state’s pot-funded excise tax that collects money earmarked for school construction projects brought in $13.6 million, which is more than it did in all of 2014.
While the total for the year may not reach the $40 million number used to lure voters to legalize recreational marijuana, backers say they are optimistic.
“It sounds very encouraging,” said state Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. “Voters wanted the school capital construction program to benefit, and despite some bumps in the road at the beginning, it looks like what was intended is coming to fruition.”
There are three types of state taxes on recreational marijuana: the standard 2.9 percent sales tax, a 10 percent special marijuana sales tax and a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana transfers.
How much? Colorado marijuana sales hit $700 million for 2014
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said it: Pot is ‘not as vexing as we thought it was going to be’
This year, from January to May the excise tax earmarked for schools brought in $13.6 million; tThe money from the excise tax has grown to $3.5 million in May from $2.5 million in March. The tax brought in just $13.3 million in all of 2014. The jump is partly because there are more marijuana stores and partly because shops benefited from a one-time tax-exempt transfer.
The new pot tax data also shows recreational marijuana sales in Colorado plateaued in spring 2015.
Retail sales between March and May stayed between $42.4 and $42.7 million — totaling $42.5 million in May. May’s medical marijuana sales in Colorado were at their highest since last October, totaling $32.4 million.
SSS- Sincerely, thanks for playing, but its not even a game anymore. Our second year is almost up, and nothing has changed, oh, apologies, my bad, some things have changed. Hordes of millennials are showing up to live here, bringing their youth, skill sets, and positive attitudes. Also there is a realization starting to spread and take root, that the Statist dream war, The War on Drugs, was pointless, and we can decide for ourselves what to ingest, without the blessed help of politicians and Law Enforcement.
Blottomatik
P.S. Pot was a no brainer, personally I believe it would be healthy to end all prohibition, I am sure it sent shivers down your Statist spine.
“In the first five months of 2015, the state’s pot-funded excise tax that collects money earmarked for school construction projects brought in $13.6 million, which is more than it did in all of 2014.”
—-from the article Admin posted
Stop trying to irritate me, Admin. Every time you do that I embarrass you with facts.
Colorado’s entire state budget for 2014 was over $30 billion, of which over $10 billion went to education. Let’s extrapolate the $13.6 MILLION figure for education your stupid feel-good article threw out and say it will be $30 million for 2015. Fair enough? That means .003% (three one-thousandth) of fucking state education spending comes from pot taxes. Can you say, “Fart in a hurricane?” Well, can you, Buckwheat?
I’m not done with you, Admin, because you’re standing on my lawn. How much do you think Colorado spends to ENFORCE its legal pot laws? I’ll bet it’s WAY more than the state collects in taxes. Who monitors the legal growers? State drones. Who monitors the state’s legal pot shops? State drones. Who monitors the transport and processing of weed? State drones. Who monitors the collection of weed taxes at ALL these levels? State drones. Who investigates and prosecutes violators of the legal pot laws? State drones. Who incarcerates those violators? State drones.
None of this expensive bullshit existed before Colorado passed its legal pot law. None. Now, get off my lawn.
SSS, wasn’t paraquat the herbicide of choice back in your day? I always heard it was mean stuff. I agree with you, decriminalization is the answer. Legalization opens up huge cans of worms with driving and employment. Miami just decriminalized two weeks ago.
SSS- “None of this expensive bullshit existed before Colorado passed its legal pot law. None.”
How convenient for you to leave out the expense of fighting the “War on Drugs”. I am sure that has been miniscule, right?
Further, all of the migration has created massive revenue up and down the economic ladder, not just ‘Pot Tax’, no acknowledgement of that uncomfortable fact either.
Our economy is hot, property values are way up, we are tied with the Bay Area for increases, the tax revenue from that fact alone, makes Amendment 64 net positive.
Put some more Round Up on that ‘lawn’ of yours.