ronpaulhawaii
07-16-2010, 03:14 PM
http://libertarianstoner.blogspot.com/2010/07/dispensary-owners-actually-support.html
The NORML blog has reported that there are actually some dispensary owners that support prohibition and are against proposition 19 which would legalize marijuana use for every California citizen 21 and older in participating counties. (See: The Case for Prop 19)
Craig, a dispensary owner in Venice Beach, who is opposed to Prop 19 was quoted as saying:
“I’ll give you two reasons,” Craig said. “One is big tobacco. Did you know that Phillip Morris just bought 400 acres of land up in Northern California? The minute marijuana becomes legal, they’ll mass produce and flood the market. And of course, they’ll add the same toxins they put in regular cigarettes to get you addicted, and very little THC, so you’ll have to buy more… In short, they’re going to ruin weed.” He gestured around his beloved shop, with every flavor of every strain, in its purist form, selling for at-cost prices. “I like the way things are now.”
Another owner of a dispensary in Sacramento named Lanette Davies,though trying to justify it with points similar to Craig's,has also taken a stance against marijuana legalization and has even donated money she made from selling marijuana to help keep it illegal!
Though Proposition 19 is not a perfect legalization of marijuana is a very big step in the right direction and this backlash from these dispensary owners and others is a distrubing trend though honestly its to be expected.
When prop 215 was passed in 1996 it created a special dispensation for a select group of people where by they could sell marijuana legally,conceivably at any price,but no one else could. In other words it created a state sponsored monopoly. Now obviously with Cannabis still being widely available on the Black market it wasn't a perfect monopoly but as getting a card became as easy as telling a doctor you had a stubbed toe and paying him $200 dispensary's became much more popular as they offered several benefits over the black market. Included in those benefits was a greater degree of (Though not complete) protection against prosecution,higher quality weed,and a variety of weed products. All these things worked in favor of the owners of those dispensaries as they had no competition in those areas mentioned outside of other dispensaries. That's not to say Prop 215 didn't need to pass because without it we wouldn't have gotten this far but it created two different classes of citizen,one that can do something legally and one that can't.
Now with this ballot proposal as early as November the 2nd their monopoly on connoisseur weed and weed products could end.
That is at least the way they look at it,its monopolist crony capitalism at its finest and its sickening. But its not sickening because they want to make a profit,no its sickening because they want to make a profit with the protection of the government and off the backs of many very sick people sometimes lost and forgotten in a sea of healthy card holders.
The Rand Corporation,hardly a supporter of legalization, did a study on the possible effects of prop 19 and found that if it passed it would lower the price of high quality cannabis by 80% from about $340 an ounce to $35 an ounce. These statists hate the idea of having to slash their prices because of waves of new competition in the marketplace and the ones who will suffer most if this proposition doesn't pass are dieing medical marijuana patients. How compassionate for a compassion club right?
What these Stoned Crony Capitalists don't seem to realize is according to the Rand corp study,though the price would be slashed, over time demand would increase as well. No study is needed to come to that conclusion of course(nor is it needed to know that legalization would drop prices) but these people seem to lack knowledge on even basic economics.
Sure its true there will be much more competition but they some how fail to see the obvious benefit of Millions of new costumers.
I don't like Walmart,they persecute terminal cancer patients, but they have a simple proven strategy for making money and that's selling high volumes at a low profit,these dispensary's could and statistically would do much better long term in a much freer market.
Further more addressing Craig's,the dispensary nazi from earlier, concern who cares if Phillip Morris grows their own weed with horrible chemicals? The fact of the matter is after alcohol prohibition ended it wasn't only the big brewers that got back in business but also the small ones and they produced the finest beer in the world. Though there were a few decades where it looked like the state had created a monopoly for the three major brewers the free market cried out for GOOD beer and now we have small micro breweries across America making High quality sudds. Also you fail to see that little clause in Prop 19 that gives people the right to grow their own high quality chemical free bud but then I know you don't even want your medical marijuana patients to know they have that right,it could hurt your state subsidized bottom line so your promotion of ignorance on that matter is understandable.
In the end this contradictory stance by some dispensary owners all comes down to economic ignorance and an over reliance on the governemnt. You can't even blame greed because if they understood the basics of how a free market(or in this case a much FREER market) worked they would know that they have a high probability of much larger profits.
Its sad really.
The NORML blog has reported that there are actually some dispensary owners that support prohibition and are against proposition 19 which would legalize marijuana use for every California citizen 21 and older in participating counties. (See: The Case for Prop 19)
Craig, a dispensary owner in Venice Beach, who is opposed to Prop 19 was quoted as saying:
“I’ll give you two reasons,” Craig said. “One is big tobacco. Did you know that Phillip Morris just bought 400 acres of land up in Northern California? The minute marijuana becomes legal, they’ll mass produce and flood the market. And of course, they’ll add the same toxins they put in regular cigarettes to get you addicted, and very little THC, so you’ll have to buy more… In short, they’re going to ruin weed.” He gestured around his beloved shop, with every flavor of every strain, in its purist form, selling for at-cost prices. “I like the way things are now.”
Another owner of a dispensary in Sacramento named Lanette Davies,though trying to justify it with points similar to Craig's,has also taken a stance against marijuana legalization and has even donated money she made from selling marijuana to help keep it illegal!
Though Proposition 19 is not a perfect legalization of marijuana is a very big step in the right direction and this backlash from these dispensary owners and others is a distrubing trend though honestly its to be expected.
When prop 215 was passed in 1996 it created a special dispensation for a select group of people where by they could sell marijuana legally,conceivably at any price,but no one else could. In other words it created a state sponsored monopoly. Now obviously with Cannabis still being widely available on the Black market it wasn't a perfect monopoly but as getting a card became as easy as telling a doctor you had a stubbed toe and paying him $200 dispensary's became much more popular as they offered several benefits over the black market. Included in those benefits was a greater degree of (Though not complete) protection against prosecution,higher quality weed,and a variety of weed products. All these things worked in favor of the owners of those dispensaries as they had no competition in those areas mentioned outside of other dispensaries. That's not to say Prop 215 didn't need to pass because without it we wouldn't have gotten this far but it created two different classes of citizen,one that can do something legally and one that can't.
Now with this ballot proposal as early as November the 2nd their monopoly on connoisseur weed and weed products could end.
That is at least the way they look at it,its monopolist crony capitalism at its finest and its sickening. But its not sickening because they want to make a profit,no its sickening because they want to make a profit with the protection of the government and off the backs of many very sick people sometimes lost and forgotten in a sea of healthy card holders.
The Rand Corporation,hardly a supporter of legalization, did a study on the possible effects of prop 19 and found that if it passed it would lower the price of high quality cannabis by 80% from about $340 an ounce to $35 an ounce. These statists hate the idea of having to slash their prices because of waves of new competition in the marketplace and the ones who will suffer most if this proposition doesn't pass are dieing medical marijuana patients. How compassionate for a compassion club right?
What these Stoned Crony Capitalists don't seem to realize is according to the Rand corp study,though the price would be slashed, over time demand would increase as well. No study is needed to come to that conclusion of course(nor is it needed to know that legalization would drop prices) but these people seem to lack knowledge on even basic economics.
Sure its true there will be much more competition but they some how fail to see the obvious benefit of Millions of new costumers.
I don't like Walmart,they persecute terminal cancer patients, but they have a simple proven strategy for making money and that's selling high volumes at a low profit,these dispensary's could and statistically would do much better long term in a much freer market.
Further more addressing Craig's,the dispensary nazi from earlier, concern who cares if Phillip Morris grows their own weed with horrible chemicals? The fact of the matter is after alcohol prohibition ended it wasn't only the big brewers that got back in business but also the small ones and they produced the finest beer in the world. Though there were a few decades where it looked like the state had created a monopoly for the three major brewers the free market cried out for GOOD beer and now we have small micro breweries across America making High quality sudds. Also you fail to see that little clause in Prop 19 that gives people the right to grow their own high quality chemical free bud but then I know you don't even want your medical marijuana patients to know they have that right,it could hurt your state subsidized bottom line so your promotion of ignorance on that matter is understandable.
In the end this contradictory stance by some dispensary owners all comes down to economic ignorance and an over reliance on the governemnt. You can't even blame greed because if they understood the basics of how a free market(or in this case a much FREER market) worked they would know that they have a high probability of much larger profits.
Its sad really.