Not regulated like alcohol is, and not legal like it is either. It is still a Federal crime to grow pot in California, and the Feds have been known to bust people who grow it in any sort of large scale measure that would drive down prices.
In the Netherlands, large scale growing is illegal there too. In both instances, the growers take a substantial risk in growing, aka jail time, and their price reflects this risk, as well as the shortened supply.
You'd have licensed growers, licensed manufacturers, licensed sellers, federal inspections at every level, manufacturer's provisions for lawsuits, etc., all adding to the price. Then start adding taxes at every level of government.
That wouldn't come remotely close to the price of prohibition. Alcohol and tobacco has to deal with those same issues, and their price doesn't come anywhere near the price that pot costs. An ounce of tobacco is what, $5-10? An ounce of pot illegally is what, $350 or so?
Sure, increased quantity would reduce costs. But what are we talking about? Reducing the cost from $3 per plant to $1 per plant? On a product selling for $300 per ounce?
The cost of growing it now is irrelevant. It's the risk in growing it that creates the profit. Remove the risk and the price goes down.
In New York, it's over $8 per pack. Now you tell me why that is so. Tobacco is as cheap to grow as marijuana. When I was younger, I remember paying 35 cents per pack, and I thought that was a lot. There's no reason cigarettes should cost $8 per pack. But they do.
Taxes. Still, even taxes don't come close to the amazing price increase that prohibition brings. $8 a pack (which is around 3/4ths of an ounce, IIRC) compared to around $300 for the same amount of pot.
Where is tobacco grown, you ask? On huge, huge, huge fields. North Carolina has over 150,000 acres alone dedicated to growing tobacco. If pot can ever come close to having the acerage legally used to grow their supply, the price will come down drastically.
So let's not get all cocky talking about legal marijuana being cheap. I gave you the two best examples of legal marijuana, and the legal selling price isn't even close to the actual cost of producing it.
The two best examples of legal pot are piss poor in this discussion. In fact, they are irrelevant since the production of it is still illegal.
Regulate pot like alcohol and tobacco is, and then you can start comparing apples to apples.
It's actually less illegally, and those dealers have more risks.
Not really. It's about the same price, because the medical clubs have to get their supply illegally, much like the shops in Holland do.
No source, of course.
According to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics--1996, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Albany, NY: Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, 1997; p. 413, table 4.38, the DEA made 5,835 marijuana arrests in 1996.
A couple of arrests per state per week. The typical pothead is nearly as likely to hit a state lottery as to be arrested by the DEA.