Quote Originally Posted by Fengzi
I actually doubt that the prices would fall much if weed were legalized. In fact, it might go up in some places. The prices in any given area have pretty much already been set and are based on supply, demand, and what the local population can afford. Look at a product like Adobe Photoshop, a full legal copy is something like $600+. For a shitty little cd. Sure, a lot of r&d etc went into it but a lot goes into other software that only costs $50. So why is photoshop so expensive, because that's what people will pay. Once it's been established that people will pay a certain price it's unlikely that they'll go down.

Look at the situation in the cannabis clubs out here in California. This is weed which is being sold legally and which has been grown legally. Not to mention the fact that a huge portion of the domestic crop is grown here. Yet, prices in the cannabis clubs are as much, if not more, than what you'd pay for illegal weed.

If weed has traditionally been sold for $50-60 an 1/8th, it is doubtful that a legal seller would want to sell it for much less. It has already been established that such a price is acceptable. Yes, if the price falls more weed will potentially be sold for potentially greater profit. But that would level off pretty quickly. If the price of weed were to be cut in half the consumption level would need to double or more(given all other factors remain the same) in order to get the same amount of profit. But how many people would really double their consumption simply because the price has fallen? My guess is not too many.

What I could potentially see happening is a leveling off of prices across the country. You probably wouldn't see a situation like we have now where weed in San Francisco costs $60 an 1/8th and weed in Iowa costs $60 a 1/2. There might be some small regional differences to account for distribution costs but that is it. So, while the prices might go down a bit for some people they might go up for others.

Question for folks who've been to Amsterdam: What are the prices like there?


your COMPLETELY out to lunch, and your economic forecast is based on total misunderstanding:

1. weed is easy to grow, and remember, if it's legal we're talking fields and fields of it in Nebraska, like corn; big conglomerates would be in the position to mass produce and sell cheap. you would buy a pack of joints just as you would buy a pack of cigs; and i think it could easily be as cheap as tobacco. there would still be a place for specialty growers, but i don't think you get how dramatically the market would change. take a look at alcohol during prohibition and i think you're on the right track.


it would be funny to see all the hydro shops go out of biz, and no longer be able to say "oh, our customers are growing tomatoes indoors"


what you seem to totally miss is that SUPPLY would change by 100-fold, perhaps a 1000-fold. demand would go up as well, since folks that would avoid it because it's illegal no longer would, but the SUPPLY and the ease of sale is the main issue. you're still thinking in terms of it being an illegal substance

the photoshop example is also nuts. you're not paying for the plastic disc, you're paying for the complex and specialized software, which took an immense amount of effort to develop, plus there aren't many direct competitors


and you're still missing the point with the med-cannabis shops; they still have to get their bud through clandestine arrangements; they don't have fields of weed out back, if they did, the prices would be far different

and again with amsterdam: they don't have massive fields of green either; growers still have to keep things on the down-low for the most part. there's a difference between decriminalization and legalization. in DAM you can have 5plants but i don't believe the big seed companies and coffee-shop growers have a license to grow as much as they wish; i could be wrong there, though, not sure