Done went and gone legal

[Gingerbeard]

Deep sigh...

I perused east on Main St. (Marijuana Mile) to see if all the illegals had been shut down. 's far 's my THC deprived senses could tell there were no green crosses. It may be a while, if ever, before someone is going to open up another. The days of $20, or 2 for $35 house grams are gone.

So, south I went to my first, tax paying dispensary. A 'drug boutique,' they call themselves. I walked out with 2, $30 grams for $55 after I got my first timers' and veterans' discount. What are the upsides of paying tax at a drug boutique? A label that gives, among other information, all the certification information for running the business, THC, CBD, and the ilk, percentages, and made on and used by dates. Kush Cake is an Indica, and I can tell it is an Indica. Chiquita Banana is a sativa and I can tell it is a sativa. Flavors are decent but not award winning for terpenes.

The illegal house shatters were all the same. A zillion, little paper envelopes with 20+ strain names. Pick ten and they all look, smell, taste, and clog the rig the same. Seeing the labels on these grams gives me a warm and fuzzy that they were not made in someone's basement, and further makes clear the image I've had in my head of how red my esophagus has become from coughing after too many illegal house grams.

In the end, I'm going to have to dab less of a better quality product. These legal grams are good for what I paid, but I will never pay full price and tax. A step up in quality will be my par. Quality v quantity. Although I don't want to pay 25%ish tax on anything, I will suck it up in knowing taxes are allowing these places to open. Down the road, I imagine someone is going to figure a way to lower the punch.

Sincerely,

Gingerbeard

[BR2K]

Have you adjusted your growing schedule, to increase your harvests or is this just to tide you over for a day or two?

[SoOrbudgal]

How come your not growing right now? WOW $30gram sheeeesh what a racket.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I hear Chiquita Banana is supposed to be the bomb! Like stupidly high THC. Still, that's pretty dear for just a gram of it. That's what I used to pay for a quarter of mystery dope back in the day! Too bad Cali can't experience a weed glut like Oregon had not too long ago.

[Xena]

I’m with budgal, WOW, hell I thought when you started at $20 or 2 for $30 was crazy. Only way I’m paying even that is is if they......well that’s not for mixed company.

[Gingerbeard]

In Tijuana it's doing lines of coke on the ass of a hooker bent over on Via la Revolucion.

[Gingerbeard]

I feel obligated to respond to all your responses. However, please forgive me. If I do the math... 63%THC on the Chiquita Banana... number of dabs I've had... my body is somewhere around 12,450% THC.

A safe timeframe for my harvest is 20 weeks. However much I can grow is not enough to last me 20 weeks. I'm going to get a perpetual grow going between my old 2x3 and my new 3x3 which will give me less, but over a longer period. Growing weed is a hobby with fringe benefits. Like growing vegetables. I don't know how much I get in terms of flower because I blast everything.

My current grow is recovering from pH and nutrient abuse. Purple, yellow, and dead spots on leaves. Stunted growth. Real nasty looking. Pictures would only provide evidence, should this whole drug abuse thing get picked up by the feds.

I don't think I would like to get high solely on my on supply. It would get boring and predictable. Even if I grew several strains. For those of you with personal preferences, kudos. It's all the same thing, to me. The only difference is how much it takes of something to get me where I want to go.

Prices are stupid in San Diego because of the cost of renting a space, taxes, and startup costs. So when the great GWE road trip swings by San Diego, make sure to pick something up before you get here or your budget will be shot.

Yours truly,

Gingerbeard

[SoOrbudgal]

Oh yes taxes here are gonna get more greedy come Nov. election help pay for all the destruction in downtown Portlandia. Some time Gingerbeard a try at autos would really surprise you. I grow 2-3 different strains at a time not all the same. Our goal is to have a shelf of jars with different strains to last till another harvest. I know you know this......i just hate seeing folks spend hard earned cash on over priced weed. Don't care what rock star made it famous.

[Gingerbeard]

Tell me about it, Orby. I can see flower needing to be cheaper since it's the least amount of work required to get a product. When flower get's chemistry and physics thrown at it, costs go up. It isn't hard to spend $60 on an eighth or $90 on a gram of concentrate.
So far as spending 'hard earned cash' goes, well, I ain't n'even earned so much as a nickle in a mid-late decade ago. For me, it's working it into the budget of the money I do get.
When it comes to rock star fame, all we have to do is look at Tommy Chong. That ol' pothead will endorse anything. Bacon's Law.
I've grown autos but prefer feminized because I have more control of the size of the plants.

[kayakiit]

Deep sigh...

I perused east on Main St. (Marijuana Mile) to see if all the illegals had been shut down. 's far 's my THC deprived senses could tell there were no green crosses. It may be a while, if ever, before someone is going to open up another. The days of $20, or 2 for $35 house grams are gone.

So, south I went to my first, tax paying dispensary. A 'drug boutique,' they call themselves. I walked out with 2, $30 grams for $55 after I got my first timers' and veterans' discount. What are the upsides of paying tax at a drug boutique? A label that gives, among other information, all the certification information for running the business, THC, CBD, and the ilk, percentages, and made on and used by dates. Kush Cake is an Indica, and I can tell it is an Indica. Chiquita Banana is a sativa and I can tell it is a sativa. Flavors are decent but not award winning for terpenes.

The illegal house shatters were all the same. A zillion, little paper envelopes with 20+ strain names. Pick ten and they all look, smell, taste, and clog the rig the same. Seeing the labels on these grams gives me a warm and fuzzy that they were not made in someone's basement, and further makes clear the image I've had in my head of how red my esophagus has become from coughing after too many illegal house grams.

In the end, I'm going to have to dab less of a better quality product. These legal grams are good for what I paid, but I will never pay full price and tax. A step up in quality will be my par. Quality v quantity. Although I don't want to pay 25%ish tax on anything, I will suck it up in knowing taxes are allowing these places to open. Down the road, I imagine someone is going to figure a way to lower the punch.

Sincerely,

Gingerbeard

^dabbing (and/or smoking) less of a better product is what it comes down to much of the time with dispensaries. If this was your first dispensary trip, I'd definitely shop around and ask people nearby where their favorite spots are. I lived in Boulder after rec was first legalized statewide in Colorado, and for awhile I didn't really have space/privacy from landlords to grow. Grams of rec weed would go for $7-10 on average, but one place I liked would sell an ounce of decent quality flower for $55 (different strains by the week). Definitely the best deal in town - there'd literally be a line out the door for hours every day once word got out, haha. Even with the best deals at places down the block you'd easily pay 2-3x that. There may be similar sweet spots/hidden gems in your area, so it's worth exploring.

Might be worth looking into a med card too if you have anything that could qualify you, but if you already have a veteran discount, it may or may not be worth the savings.

[Gingerbeard]

I've asked around as much as I can without opening up about someone's personal business. Everyone I know either has a 'friend' they buy weed from, or went to the same dispensary I went to. I know who grows and who sells, is my community. I'm the pathfinder among'st my group. The first to go legit. Next will be herding up the young heads and placing a delivery order. Maybe tomorrow...
We have the super cheap ounces, as well. I wouldn't even blast it. Again, anyway. I blasted a cheap ounce for a friend and wound up with tar.
From what I hear, medical licenses are nice to frame but don't do anything for taxes or prices. They were necessary before 'legalization.' Since CA is medical and recreational, a license is superfluous. I also consider them a joke. Years ago, when I got one, I walked into the 'doctor's' office with a big yellow envelope full of medical history from the VA and private practice primary care provider type people. She asked me what was going on. I told her. She signed the license that a 'nurse' brought her, and handed it to me. No more than five minutes. I asked if she wanted to see my paperwork. Her first reaction was to wave me off. But she slid into a real clever retreat and accepted my paperwork for a flip-thru.
Around here, it's nothing to drive around with a joint or blunt. Sit yourself in a little rush hour traffic and the accumulated smoke from a thousand joints is like a slow, light fog.

[Gingerbeard]

A little skinny on the whole recommendation thing.

A recommendation can be had through the state. I will not get one through the state. The state checks you out like you were buying a gun. At the same time, the state takes away some of your rights. The biggie is you lose your right to own firearms. State marijuana taxes are waived.

Or, I can go online and get one. Fill out their form, tell them I stubbed my pinkie toe, and some anonymous person recommends me for the purchase of marijuana as a medical necessity of life or death. I still get to buy firearms. I don't think it does anything for taxes.

Without a state or anonymous recommendation for the consumption of cannabis and cannabis related items, I can only buy 8 grams of concentrate at a time. More if I get one.

In the end, I'll own up and say there's a heavy recreational influence to my medical use of cannabis and, morally, should not bitch about paying for some good, quality recreation. It is my personal god's given right to recreate with drugs. Buy on the right day and the specials pay for a little more than tax and I get live batter, budder, crumble, and sauce for a San Diego fair price.

My god's given right to recreate with firearms is based on one idea: Don't shoot your eye out.

[SoOrbudgal]

OK go get that card and buy the heck out of those state owned stores. I would of got a medical card for sure way back when. I got a sister in law with one i think she can grow 6 plants? We rec. growers can only grow 4. or so.....

[Gingerbeard]

... or so....