Is the UK cannabis market changing?

[buds73]

Maybe we got Howard Marks (Mr Nice) to thank for that lol. He lived about 40 miles from where I am. Used to know a guy who was "old school" to me even back then (now I'm more old school lol) he would occasionally get Nepalese temple balls but that was never for sale and I never got the pleasure of trying it. Who knows maybe if I keep growing I can make my own one day.

[FunkyButtLovin]

Speaking of Howard Marks aka Mr. Nice Guy, did anyone else ever play his smuggling game that used to be online. You could travel to 6 or 8 major pot/hash producing countries and make buys and try to move it somewhere else in the world for profit, you could buy a new identity up to 4 or 5 times and the idea was to change identities when things got hot and eventually retire with as much loot as possible without getting caught. The USA always had the highest profits but the highest risk. It was an extremely simple mouse clicking game but I played that shit so much. That was back when I was a member of the HempCultivation.com forums in 2002.

[buds73]

No can't say i have sounds like it was fun though.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Here is the Skunk #1 regs box with a Northern Lights feminized for comparison.

[ChadWestport]

I wish there was a "love" button. So sexy.

[buds73]

Be interesting to see how the Skunk turns out. Are they regular or feminized?
Nvm just reread and answered my own question lol

[UndergroundFarmer]

Since this thread got resurrected, the Skunk grew and produced like a champ. It's a sturdy and pretty dark green plant that makes big buds easily. After a smoke trial, yes indeed Skunk #1 was what I used to get on the black market when I got good weed. I can see why the illegal growers loved her.

[buds73]

Yes it is getting better and maybe its changed a little due to covid but supply has been affected in recent wks in my particular county due to lock downs in our surrounding counties. Police have been doing random stops on people travelling between counties and the county I'm in has just been put in lock down from 6pm this evening.

What we really need now is legalisation unfortunately I don't think that's going to be in the next few yrs. I think it's a case of big pharma stopping it here or at least delaying it. What annoys me is that for yrs government has been saying there is no medical evidence in support of legalising cannabis yet when Theresa May was prime minister a company called Gw Pharma (who I believe make sativex) was granted a licence to grow tons of weed each year. The ceo of Gw pharma is the husband to Theresa May. Convenient that.

[ChadWestport]

GW Pharma is huge and has probably spent the most money as a company doing research on cannabinoids and terpenes. The former adviser to their clinical trials, Dr. Ethan Russo has some tremendous papers out there about terpenes, the entourage effect and the ECS (endocannabinoid system) Fascinating research. They have sativex, epidilex and a couple other patents and approvals on cannabinoid related medicine. I had the chance to meet him once at a function he was doing a panel at. Definitely a science guy and not a weed guy, which made me feel good. He wants to help people with medicinal alternatives.

[buds73]

Cool thanks. I'll take look at that in a bit. Always good to broaden the knowledge, stopping that knowledge getting fuzzy when I've had a smoke is the hard part lol.

[ChadWestport]

Luckily for me, I get stoned and then I get curious and then I get slightly OCD about finding the answer. It works

[buds73]

Lol. It's curiosity that distracts me. Take for instance last night, I start off watching grow videos and end up watching a river otter killing a snapping turtle. I was rooting for the turtle lol

[Gingerbeard]

Almost a year later, how's the market?
You mentioned at the beginning you were seeing a lot of California bud coming your way, and the prices were going up. I wouldn't buy Cali grown bud in the UK or anywhere that doesn't border the Pacific Ocean. How far does Cali grown travel to get to the UK? How does it pass through so many shipping inspections to get from the west coast of the US, then to the east coast, and on to the UK? How much bulk is needed to make a drug dealer size profit? How much is it going to cost to get weed from that far away?
In San Diego, off market bud is $5.00 a gram. Super chronic is $20/g. Take a look at San Diego dispensary prices. If you are paying $40 for an eighth, that's nigh on $11.00/g, which would give you mid-range Cali bud. I have to imagine it would get taxed to at least $30/g in the UK. There is new competition as our communities' are changing laws about having dispensaries. As soon as one opens up, dispensary prices in surrounding communities plunge. My $37/g live resin dropped to $29.00.
You might be getting east coast bud. Maybe even eastern US bud. Before California became legal and we started growing good shit, B.C. bud was the fruit in a golden chalice. All someone had to do to charge a higher tax was to say it was B.C. bud. Tacking 'Cali' to weed will make a cotton mouth drool.
You might also be getting weed grown from 'Cali' seeds, in 'Cali' conditions, but not Cali bud. There is enough of a European tolerance to weed that it would be cheaper to keep it European local.
Take a look at THC diamonds. A gram of 99.99% pure TCH. I can get that for $100 for a quarter ounce. I could bring you guys a kilo and make a million dollars!
If you order something online, you are 101% on your own.

[JimmyGomez]

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[DaGreenBlazer]

Ahhhh i was hoping this was a new thread 😅

Just to answer anyone who isn't aware, the UK use of the phrase 'Cali Weed' is 95% of the time just hype BS.

The phrase itself started a few years ago when UK people started ordering through the dark web to buy super high grade US weed that professional growers & dispensaries were backdooring - it would cost between £400 - £600 per oz, but it was proper Cali knockout strength and thus selling it for £15 - £30 per gram was justified all round.

Unfortunately all the dickhead dealers then started using it as the new buzzword because they realised uneducated people would pay more and nowadays most so called Cali Weed in the UK is just decent enough homegrown packaged into the US brand sealpacks. A guy i know just buys the branded name sealpacks off eBay relevant to whatever he's selling that week and repacks & sells it all on fine.

There are a few good specialist dealers who do order online from US, and the way to tell the difference is that they will generally have a comprehensive list of a dozen different strains rather than just one or two.
Also when you order from US, you don't get sent hundreds of pre-packed sealpacks, you just get sent regular big baggies filled with a few Oz - genuine US orders would then just be split up & sold into smaller baggies - if it's been put in a branded sealpack then that's been done UK end and is a sign you're being tricked.
Plus, if you ever buy 'Cali Weed' in the UK and you're left questioning the price, then that in itself is a sign you've been shafted - weed that is genuinely worth £30 per gram will be immediately obvious as soon as you see, smell or smoke it!

Overall, it's a sad development for the UK market, and just more reason to get growing yourself!

[Bowhunterwoody]

I think this needs to be flagged. First post. Done.