Seattle Wants Pot Tourists

[Donn]

Maybe not in Seattle, but it has in CO. Maybe that's because tourism of one sort or another is a major industry in CO.

Plenty of tourist industry here. I think a glance at the map should be enough to see one difference: Washington isn't surrounded by states like Nebraska, Utah etc. Well, Idaho, but eastern Washington looks pretty dry - northern Idaho can go to Spokane and Pullman, but it's a long drive from Boise, and the Tri Cities and Walla Walla seem to have no recreational retail at this point. I bet we probably have as much of this kind of "tourism" internally, folks heading over to Ellensburg from Pasco.

For the kind of thing I thought they were talking about in the article, though, I think that's a little premature. Right now we're still in kind of a wild west, gold rush stage combined with weird regulatory constraints. When the industry is more established, we'll see what the potential is, and maybe arms will be twisted to open up some of the state laws. Right now the farmers are struggling, and the retailers are about as charming as dentist offices.

 

[Jhhnn]

Plenty of tourist industry here. I think a glance at the map should be enough to see one difference: Washington isn't surrounded by states like Nebraska, Utah etc. Well, Idaho, but eastern Washington looks pretty dry - northern Idaho can go to Spokane and Pullman, but it's a long drive from Boise, and the Tri Cities and Walla Walla seem to have no recreational retail at this point. I bet we probably have as much of this kind of "tourism" internally, folks heading over to Ellensburg from Pasco.

For the kind of thing I thought they were talking about in the article, though, I think that's a little premature. Right now we're still in kind of a wild west, gold rush stage combined with weird regulatory constraints. When the industry is more established, we'll see what the potential is, and maybe arms will be twisted to open up some of the state laws. Right now the farmers are struggling, and the retailers are about as charming as dentist offices.

The way it's shaping up, I figure that WA residents will be the tourists, headed across the bridge to Portland to score at lower prices. There's nobody to bust them crossing back into WA, either.

 

[theJointedOne]

But Donn, why pay 15 a gram for an ounce of mid grade when on the gray area market (delivery), or on the black market, I can get a AAA+ ounce for 200. Same with concentrates. Found some wicked stuff for around 25 a gram black market, at the clubs its 60 a gram, not sure they are even selling concentrate at recc stores yet, maybe. I know you allowed to buy up to 7 grams of concentrate at once, if you find a place to buy it.

 

[Donn]

You guys do what you have to do, but normal people who are getting a taste of weed now that it's legal couldn't use an ounce if you gave it to them for free. Last fall, I made my first buy since the '70s, and I still have most of that gram, and most of each of the five grams I've bought since. Probably an average of 1 gram a month, and there's no way I can keep up, I'm going to start making sampler packets for friends rather than let it go stale.

I can't pretend to be a connoisseur, but I don't think there's anything "mid grade" about it. It's analyzed per state requirements, labeled with THC content that I believe is around the limit cannabis can produce and clearly it's more than potent enough for my purposes. And beyond the THC, each one has distinctive effects that keep me going back to the shop for more discoveries. The retail shop owner up the road, half hour bicycle ride, can answer questions about growers like he's been there, and evidently he has. The growers are above ground, many in natural light, building reputations for what they do. I could be happier about the way it's going, but realistically it could hardly be better.

I can get concentrates, though I had to look it up for you because it isn't something I care about for myself. I'm fascinated with the specific character of each strain, and maybe particular harvest of a strain grown at a particular farm, matter of "other" cannabinoids and terpenes and who knows what. I can eat that (after decarboxylating), or use a portable vaporizer, and know what I'm getting, and the nearest rec shop carries about 100 options there. Concentrates is maybe a couple dozen, but who knows what's in them? I mean, do you lose any of the terpenes, etc.? I'd just as soon stay closer to the natural product.

 

[SoaringHi]

You guys do what you have to do, but normal people who are getting a taste of weed now that it's legal couldn't use an ounce if you gave it to them for free..

And this is the current problem, normal people like Donn here are the only loyal customer base for rec shops.

 

[Donn]

Well, rather, there's a substantial majority who have never been into it enough to buy it from some guy on the street or get a phony prescription, and a minority of that majority who are now ready to give it a try now that it's legal. Huge cultural shifts take time. I'm really not normal by any stretch of the imagination, I just have a tolerance level etc. that's around the norm for the general population. I'm far more interested in it right now than any normal person, partly because I'm the same guy who used to grow P. cubensis in the '70s and partly because that cultural shift is of some interest to me.

 

[SoaringHi]

Understood Donn, in that light you absolutely qualify as the majority. The point I was making about the recreational shops is that if the prices they sell at are only acceptable to those that consume very little of the product, then they can never truly compete with the medical and black/grey market. The problem with this is the state wants to eradicate the black market through "legalization" but they can't do that with the current tax model and resulting high prices at the consumer level. Now we are seeing this fiasco bleed over into the senate wanting to eliminate medical dispensaries since they are viewed as competition to recreational stores and are much easier targets than the black market.

 

[Jhhnn]

I think the tax regimen in WA is self defeating & that in CO also but to a much lesser degree. Both are trying to extract maximum tax per unit rather than trying to obtain maximum market share at a lower price & therefore higher total revenue. In CO everybody is currently making money- legal or illegal, Med & Rec at every level even though retail prices are higher. That can easily be shifted to Rec by licensing more low overhead producers, greenhouse & outdoor growers. I figure they can make money while driving everybody else out of business.

I suspect that WA authorities are attempting to use price to hold down consumption, as well.

 

[Donn]

Well, sure! It isn't surprising to see not much support for the heavy daily user, which, whatever we think about it, a lot of voters see as drug abuse.

Is regularly daily use "recreational"? Right now I think we're still in the woods about what that really means. Of course it doesn't need to mean anything to you or me, we pay for it and use it as we like, but the legal structure within which we do that is normally a kind of exoskeleton over a much more complex and organic cultural process. But here it's like the culture is just a stump that's been mowed over by decades of suppression, and it's hard to say exactly what it's going to be like when it grows out.

Steering back towards the nominal topic, what does cannabis recreation look like on a tourist brochure? It isn't stuffing your pockets with weed and smuggling it back home. It isn't a whole lot like the wine tourism that works so well here and in parts of California. Even if it were legally OK, you can't sample half a dozen herbs and savor the distinctions, and then go have some more with a fancy dinner. I'm thinking the most likely workable scenarios are more new-agey, maybe kind of like the spa retreat scene. Take some nice herbal chocolates carefully calibrated with the right clear, uplifting strains, and partake from a variety of delightful activities but with a serious intention to do your head some good. For example, anyway. That kind of thing is still awkward right now, your guests would have to buy their own material and there are probably more problems, but no one cares about that because no one sees the value of that. The stump is all we really know. Some hardy pioneers are going to be taking the first steps, I hope building out an above ground recreational cannabis culture that's a healthy step forward for us.