Smoked down the joint too far, didn't they?
"The price for high-quality marijuana at some shops was around $400 an ounce. That’s about four times what smokers are paying on the black market in Colorado, according to crowd-sourced Internet surveys. Much of the extra cost was attributed to state and local taxes in excess of 25 percent.
That's why they let you legali$e, you stoned fools!
Colorado set up an elaborate plant-tracking system to try to keep the drug away from the black market, and regulators set up packaging, labeling, and testing requirements.... Prices in some places rose to more than $500 an ounce, and some shops announced midafternoon that they would close early because of short supply.
Awwwww!
Now what were we standing in line for?
It’s too soon to say whether the price spikes and long lines will persist"
Would have been better off leaving it illegal.
"Legal recreational marijuana industry opens in Colo." by Kristen Wyatt | Associated Press, January 02, 2014
DENVER — Crowds were serenaded by live music as they waited for the nation’s first legal recreational pot shops to open. They ate doughnuts and funnel cakes as a glass-blower made smoking pipes. Some tourists rode around in a limo, eager to try marijuana but not so eager to be seen buying it.
They got cameras, can't you see them through the slits you call eyes?
And when the sales began, those who bought the drug emerged from the stores, receipt held high and carrying sealed shopping bags, to cheers.
‘‘I’m going to frame the receipt when I go home, to remind myself of what might be possible: Legal everywhere,’’ said musician James Aaron Ramsey, 28, who did some time in jail for marijuana possession in Missouri and played folk tunes with his guitar for those in line.
Activists hope he’s right, and that the experiment in Colorado will prove to be a better alternative to the costly American-led drug war, produce the kind of revenue that state officials hope, and save the government costs in locking up drug offenders.
I agree there because it's not a war on drugs; it's an excuse for government to gain money and funding playing both sides as banks launder cash to bolster bottom lines. I doubt the state makes as much as they think, though. It's not the haze of pot $moke in front of them, it is $omething they always do when seeing tax loot to inhale.
Just on the first day, prices in some places rose to more than $500 an ounce, and some shops announced midafternoon that they would close early because of short supply. It’s too soon to say whether the price spikes and long lines will persist.
I imagine not once business gets going. This is what we call a Grand Opening and not a sign of failure (unlike the grand unveiling of Obummercare).
Washington state will open its pot industry later this year. Both states’ programs will be watched closely not just by officials in other states, but by activists and governments in other countries because they will be the first to regulate the production and sale of pot.
Some countries have decriminalized the drug, and the Netherlands lets people buy and sell it, but it’s illegal to grow or process it.
Just as shops opened Wednesday, the Denver Police Department tweeted, ‘‘Do you know the law?’’ and linked to city websites on state and local laws that include bans on public consumption, driving under the influence, taking marijuana out of state, and giving pot to anyone under 21.
Denver police said one person was issued a summons for public consumption.
The increased police patrols must have worked.
The Colorado State Patrol reported no pot-related incidents. No incidents were reported at Denver International Airport, where signs warned travelers that they can’t take the drug home.
So once again the worries and fears cited were overblown (cough)?
At least 24 pot shops in eight towns opened. In Denver, pot users welcomed the new year and the new industry by firing up bongs and cheering in a cloud of marijuana smoke at a 1920s-themed ‘‘Prohibition Is Over’’ party — a reference to the 1930s-era law that outlawed marijuana.
Madness!
Shopper Jacob Elliott said he wrote reports in college about the need to end pot prohibition, but never thought it could happen in his lifetime. ‘‘This breaks that barrier,’’ said Elliott, who traveled to Colorado from Virginia to be among the first to buy legal marijuana.
How long is he going to have to stay in state?
Preparation for the retail market started more than a year ago, soon after Colorado and Washington voters in 2012 approved legal pot industries. Uruguay passed a law in December to become the first nation to regulate pot, but a regulatory system isn’t in place yet.
Marijuana advocates, who had long pushed legalization as an alternative to the drug war, had asserted that it would generate revenue for state coffers and save money by not locking up low-level drug offenders.
‘‘I feel good about it. The money’s going to schools,’’ said shopper Joseph Torres of Denver.
To treat all the stoned kids!
The price for high-quality marijuana at some shops was around $400 an ounce. That’s about four times what smokers are paying on the black market in Colorado, according to crowd-sourced Internet surveys. Much of the extra cost was attributed to state and local taxes in excess of 25 percent.
Colorado set up an elaborate plant-tracking system to try to keep the drug away from the black market, and regulators set up packaging, labeling, and testing requirements.
The US Justice Department outlined an eight-point slate of priorities for pot regulation, requiring states to keep the drug away from minors, criminal cartels, federal property, and other states in order to avoid a federal crackdown.
So there could be one coming despite the assurances of the Liar-in-Chief? Do something the federalis don't like and they will $lap you down hard?
--more--"
Here is a late XMas present:
"Christmas presents found in Wareham allegedly contained marijuana
A set of packages delivered to a house in Wareham, wrapped in festive green and red Christmas paper, allegedly turned out to contain some illicit presents: 8 to 10 pounds of marijuana. Police searched 96 Plymouth Ave. Thursday and found 25 plastic bags of marijuana stuffed in the boxes, Wareham police said. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $18,000 to $20,000, police said. The recipient of the marijuana, Zachary Driscoll, 23, was charged with possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute, police said. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment last week in Wareham District Court."
What about all the meth, coke, and heroin?
