The price of weed has definitely gone up since I started smoking 24 years ago. The first time I ever bought weed I got a 1/2 of pretty good buds for $20. That was in Florida. When I moved to California a few years later though, the price was a lot higher: $25-$30 for an 1/8th. Since them prices have gone up to $45-$50 an 1/8th. So, the price of weed is definitekly tied to inflation. Maybe it doesn't move at the national rate but few things really do. Some thing go up faster and some things go up slower. When you hear something like inflation is 3% a year that's just the average.

Like others have said, supply and demand is the main factor in determining price in a given area. Another big factor is the consumer price index for a particular area. This is basically a measurent of the cost of a variety of items such as housing, food, power, etc. If the consumer price index is higher in an area the price of weed will be higher too. Take San Francisco vs. Ohio for example. I'm always hearing people from places in the South and Midwest saying we Californian's are getting ripped off because we pay such high prices for weed. What they don't realize is that everything is more expensive out here. A tiny, run down starter home with no land will cost you $700K here. You could get a fucking mansion with a couple acres for that much in Ohio or Illinois. It makes sense that the price of weed is higher here too.