garlicnaan
Member
Wishing there were more news about what is going on in Washington. It seems like Colorado's stable and mostly successful legalization strategy overshadows the Evergreen state in the media. From what I can see, this has been a legislative failure and is possibly heading toward an economic failure. Controls that don't exist in similar industries (agriculture, alcohol) are hamstringing marijuana farmers at the retail level.
As we know, Colorado put in efforts to regulate the medical market before legalization was even on the ballot. Compliant growers were then simply given the opportunity to sell to the general adult public. Easy.
Washington tried to blaze a much different path. Voters were eager to move forward with legal weed and did not assess the potential consequences of I-502. This created an entire industry sector from scratch with plans to reign in and ultimately eliminate the widely unregulated medical market. Artisan growers who have been providing medicine for years have the looming possibility of either ending their livelihood, or diving headfirst into a cesspool of red tape and greed.
On the other side of the law, recreational farmers have overproduced in their market. Too many large farms were licensed before enough retail stores were open, and this fall has seen a huge influx of outdoor crop. There are farms sitting on hundreds of pounds because it is illegal by state law to sell at a loss, and the price points being demanded by retail locations constitute a loss for a number of larger facilities. Meanwhile, retailers buy wholesale and immediately turn around at a 300-400% markup.
I have personally had small "ma and pop" shops tell me how slow business is and can't possibly buy for any more than x per gram. Well, the Liquor Control Board makes a lot of data available, and those same small rural shops were turning revenue at 15-20 thousand per month.
My gripe isn't about my personal financial hardship, because I don't have any. Money never became the bottom line for me. I am basically a casual n00b sitting back, gaining growing experience legally in solitude by some twist of fate and waiting to see if these large unsustainable farms fail. Many put everything they have into this, mortgaging their houses, taking out huge loans, selling everything to jump into this green rush. The mentality became "more plants = more money". Now their product is sitting in warehouses while many retailers are making out like kleptos in a candy store. People say "it's an emerging market, it will work itself out in a year or 2". I just don't see it happening without a period of doom and gloom for the myriad entrepreneurs who had unrealistic expectations. Possibly even a surge of product into the black/grey market, representing an ultimate failure of the goals set by legislation.
Personally, I would like to see integration with the current medical dispensaries, enlarging the retail space and bringing in those people who actually know and love weed. That intrinsic magical feeling of growing is going to die in this state if the lawmakers stay on their current course. The vibe I get from this collective effort is "go big or go home" where the industry should have started much smaller and been given legal room to blossom into something more organic than this forced economic model. But hey, everyone's gotta pay those bills, right?
Sorry if this got a little ranty, just feeling passionate about this right now. I could be a little jaded, but there are people talking about modifying their State Operating Plans to include a consumer point of sale on their farm and proceeding to sell product directly to consumers, whether or not the LCB is on board. I think this would be a great way to get your business shut down with a quickness, but it demonstrates the current attitude of producers. People are getting desperate up here.
Feel free to add your $.02 to the pot, so to speak!!!
As we know, Colorado put in efforts to regulate the medical market before legalization was even on the ballot. Compliant growers were then simply given the opportunity to sell to the general adult public. Easy.
Washington tried to blaze a much different path. Voters were eager to move forward with legal weed and did not assess the potential consequences of I-502. This created an entire industry sector from scratch with plans to reign in and ultimately eliminate the widely unregulated medical market. Artisan growers who have been providing medicine for years have the looming possibility of either ending their livelihood, or diving headfirst into a cesspool of red tape and greed.
On the other side of the law, recreational farmers have overproduced in their market. Too many large farms were licensed before enough retail stores were open, and this fall has seen a huge influx of outdoor crop. There are farms sitting on hundreds of pounds because it is illegal by state law to sell at a loss, and the price points being demanded by retail locations constitute a loss for a number of larger facilities. Meanwhile, retailers buy wholesale and immediately turn around at a 300-400% markup.
I have personally had small "ma and pop" shops tell me how slow business is and can't possibly buy for any more than x per gram. Well, the Liquor Control Board makes a lot of data available, and those same small rural shops were turning revenue at 15-20 thousand per month.
My gripe isn't about my personal financial hardship, because I don't have any. Money never became the bottom line for me. I am basically a casual n00b sitting back, gaining growing experience legally in solitude by some twist of fate and waiting to see if these large unsustainable farms fail. Many put everything they have into this, mortgaging their houses, taking out huge loans, selling everything to jump into this green rush. The mentality became "more plants = more money". Now their product is sitting in warehouses while many retailers are making out like kleptos in a candy store. People say "it's an emerging market, it will work itself out in a year or 2". I just don't see it happening without a period of doom and gloom for the myriad entrepreneurs who had unrealistic expectations. Possibly even a surge of product into the black/grey market, representing an ultimate failure of the goals set by legislation.
Personally, I would like to see integration with the current medical dispensaries, enlarging the retail space and bringing in those people who actually know and love weed. That intrinsic magical feeling of growing is going to die in this state if the lawmakers stay on their current course. The vibe I get from this collective effort is "go big or go home" where the industry should have started much smaller and been given legal room to blossom into something more organic than this forced economic model. But hey, everyone's gotta pay those bills, right?
Sorry if this got a little ranty, just feeling passionate about this right now. I could be a little jaded, but there are people talking about modifying their State Operating Plans to include a consumer point of sale on their farm and proceeding to sell product directly to consumers, whether or not the LCB is on board. I think this would be a great way to get your business shut down with a quickness, but it demonstrates the current attitude of producers. People are getting desperate up here.
Feel free to add your $.02 to the pot, so to speak!!!
