Growers struggle with glut of legal pot in Washington state

AP via finance.yahoo.com ^ | Jan 16, 2015 | Gene Johnson

[posterchild]

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington's legal marijuana market opened last summer to a dearth of weed. Some stores periodically closed because they didn't have pot to sell. Prices were through the roof.

Six months later, the equation has flipped, bringing serious growing pains to the new industry.

A big harvest of sun-grown marijuana from eastern Washington last fall flooded the market. Prices are starting to come down in the state's licensed pot shops, but due to the glut, growers are — surprisingly — struggling to sell their marijuana. Some are already worried about going belly-up, finding it tougher than expected to make a living in legal weed.

"It's an economic nightmare," says Andrew Seitz, general manager at Dutch Brothers Farms in Seattle.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Marijuana is the point of the spear. The rest of the spear will follow if the point is allowed to penetrate. By what rational argument could you deny it?

New Survey Data: More Pot Smoking, Less Heroin and Cocaine Use

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), marijuana consumption continued to rise in the general population last year but leveled off among teenagers, who supposedly are more inclined to smoke pot nowadays because looser laws have made it more appealing. Heroin use, which according to numerous press reports constitutes an "epidemic," fell by about 14 percent (as measured by the percentage of respondents who reported past-month use). Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers also was down. And cocaine consumption continued to decline, despite the malign influence of the nicotine in all those e-cigarettes the kids are sucking on these days.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

As a matter of fact, near as I can tell, most psychotic killers smoke pot, if not all of them.

I think you're onto something. I'll bet they all drank water, too! :)

[DiogenesLamp]

So that's another vote for modeling the Founders' America after an authoritarian regime.

In 1787 they executed people for sodomy. They imprisoned them for Blasphemy. Tell me again what you *THINK* is an Authoritarian regime.

Executing people for transporting poison into the country is perfectly reasonable and the founders would have done it had they been required to deal with such a problem.

No it's not - it could equally well be that in America 2% is the maximum level of inclination to use drugs -

An assertion which is totally destroyed by actual historical proof such as this:

recalling, as I've explained to you several times, that addiction experts agree that drug use and addiction are not solely about biochemistry.

You do not know what you are talking about, and your argumentum ad vericundium is irrelevant to the point. biochemistry is an essential ingredient to addiction and if you don't believe so, try snorting some chalk dust and let me know how high it gets you.

The reason THC is a plant toxin is precisely because it interferes with your biochemistry, and the evidence appears to be coming in that it causes long term damage to people dumb enough to use it and expose their kids to it.

[DiogenesLamp]

Government says abortion is okay. Does that make it moral?

You're not grasping what is meant by "enforcing morality."

You do not seem to realize that those people who are currently in power DO NOT SHARE YOUR IDEAS ABOUT WHAT IS MORAL AND WHAT IS NOT. As far as they are concerned, Abortion is indeed "moral" and it is *THEIR* morality which is being enforced, not yours.

All laws are enforced morality. It is only a question of *who's* morality gets enforced, not whether.

Do you know what else they think is moral? Forcing people to accept "gay Marriage" and "gay sensitivity" training. They also think it's "moral" to take your money from you and spend it on things like this.

[DiogenesLamp]

Neither. Your refusal to answer makes you a coward.

As Lincoln once said to a man, "Suppose you call a tail a leg, how many legs would a sheep have?" The man replied "Five." Lincoln said "No, Four. just because you call a tail a leg, doesn't make it so."

Anyone with any REAL drug world experience knows that people who abuse drugs of any kind do so to escape the pain in their life.

Much of which is caused by the pursuit of pleasure through drugs. I know a fellow who is forty something. NEVER HAD A JOB IN HIS LIFE. (Well, not for very long anyway.) Started smoking pot as a teen. Currently lives in his moms basement. (In Denver if you like an amusing coincidence.)

Mom feeds him, mom shelters him, and mom lets him indulge his pot habit. Now who's going to feed and shelter him when "mom" passes away? If you guessed "US" (U.S.) go to the head of the class!

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Much of which is caused by the pursuit of pleasure through drugs.

Just a symptom of the underlying problem, not the cause. Treating the symptom will never cure the patient.

[DiogenesLamp]

So, like Nixon you believe that it was the Jews who were behind pushing marijuana onto society.

Now you're really grasping at straws. So now you turn to these sorts of accusations? I'm not a great admirer of Nixon. He did a lot of things wrong, but he did a few things right. I only knee jerk defend him because I know how badly the Liberals hate him, and it cheers me to give them discomfort.

That being said, I know nothing of his opinions regarding Jews and I always assumed he must have had nothing against them or why else would he have appointed Henry Kissinger?

If Nixon was anti-semitic I have no intention of defending him regarding it.

[DiogenesLamp]

How so? If you're referring to government assistance programs sometimes used by pot smokers, it's government doing the thieving.

It's a team effort. Everyone involved is thieving.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Now you're really grasping at straws. So now you turn to these sorts of accusations? I'm not a great admirer of Nixon. He did a lot of things wrong, but he did a few things right. I only knee jerk defend him because I know how badly the Liberals hate him, and it cheers me to give them discomfort.

Not a straw man. You just didn't read what I posted. (#162) Maybe you should go back and read everything on the subject of how we got from there to here and Nixon's involvement with the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug.

For your edification, I will post it here again:

Nixon's private comments about marijuana showed he was the epitome of misinformation and prejudice. He believed marijuana led to hard drugs, despite the evidence to the contrary. He saw marijuana as tied to "radical demonstrators." He believed that "the Jews," especially "Jewish psychiatrists" were behind advocacy for legalization, asking advisor Bob Haldeman, "What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob?" He made a bizarre distinction between marijuana and alcohol, saying people use marijuana "to get high" while "a person drinks to have fun."

That being said, I know nothing of his opinions regarding Jews and I always assumed he must have had nothing against them or why else would he have appointed Henry Kissinger?

If you had known, you wouldn't have compared yourself to him by saying 'great minds think alike.' If I were to hazard a guess about him and Kissinger, it was pure political expediency.

[DiogenesLamp]

He had also taken pain meds: Man took pain meds, pot before shooting wife, police say

Still trying to rationalize eh? I will point out that he was taking pain meds presumably days before and yet he did not kill his wife, but after taking a pot brownie, he goes nuts.

Who would have thought that playing with pharmacopeia could cause a person to lose control of their "free will"?

So how about this guy? Was he on pain meds too?

Student Plunges to His Death Due to Colorado’s Legalized Marijuana

Levy Thamba was a 19 year old exchange student from the Republic of Congo. He was attending Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. During spring break, he traveled to Denver, Colorado with three of his friends. One member of the group was 21 and had legally purchased marijuana laced cookies. Supposedly, none of them had ever tried marijuana before. Shortly after eating his cookie, Thamba became ‘agitated and upset’ and then ran out of the hotel room onto and over the balcony falling four stories to his death.

http://godfatherpolitics.com/15066/student-plunges-death-due-colorados-legalized-marijuana/

[DiogenesLamp]

Trained and certificated drug counselor. What's your qualifications on the subject of drug abuse.

A Pro-pot drug counselor? What is wrong with this picture?

I'd be surprised if you've done anything but debate the subject on the internet. :)

I don't feel compelled to disabuse you of that notion.

Now, it's your turn. You said you've done 'research'. Where is it? Let's read what you wrote. :)

You've got my user name, just start reading. I expect you will find more info than you want to process. I am quite prolific when i'm of a mind to be. :)

[DiogenesLamp]

And the open-ended Commerce Clause that's the means to the end will take the guns right along with the drugs.

The commerce clause has no doubt been stretched and abused all out of proportion to it's normal purpose, but the current war on drugs is rationalized using the commerce clause more because it's convenient to do so (after all, the precedent has already been established by the court) than because it is the more authoritative part of the constitution on the subject. I have long argued that the Defense clause is a more appropriate justification for the interdiction of internationally shipped poison into our cities. We would certainly not use commerce to justify stopping a Sarin gas attack, or an Anthrax attack, or a Dirty bomb attack, or a biological agent attack, we would see it as a rightful usage of the defense clause, and so too should we regard the interdiction of drugs as an appropriate usage of the defense clause.

The Chinese, the British, and the Japanese all regarded the importation of drugs into a nation as a weapon of war, and we are foolish if we do not so regard it as well.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

You've got my user name, just start reading. I expect you will find more info than you want to process. I am quite prolific when i'm of a mind to be. :)

As I suspected. Zero qualifications. Zero research.

Yes, when it comes to empty bloviation, I'm sure your ability knows no bounds.

FRegards,

[Kackikat]

I am not a libertarian. Bye.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Crime#sthash.tFSBERzV.dpbs

[DiogenesLamp]

New Survey Data: More Pot Smoking, Less Heroin and Cocaine Use

Is this that study where they asked the high school kids if they were using illegal drugs? No, I can't see how that could possible result in any bad data. Everyone knows that high school kids can't wait to tell a government agency the truth about their illegal drug usage.

Even if you throw out the obvious procedural flaws, have you ever heard of this thing called "noise"? And wow! A 14% change? Why that is enormous! No gradual change for this statistic. 14% boom!

Yeah, I totes believe that number. And from "Reason"? One of the biggest Pro-Pot Libertarian shill organizations out there? Who could doubt it's veracity?

Give. Me. A. Break.

[DiogenesLamp]

Just a symptom of the underlying problem, not the cause. Treating the symptom will never cure the patient.

Allowing him to indulge in pharmacological escapism won't cure him either, in fact it makes a cure even more remote.

[DiogenesLamp]

As I suspected. Zero qualifications. Zero research.

As with your arguments, you see what you want to see. Again, I do not feel compelled to disabuse you of that notion. The gains are not worth the potential losses.

I notice a *LOT* of people are way too forthcoming with personal information that can trace back to them. I make a point to not be one of them. I've been in the political trenches for a long time, and I've been threatened and i've been attacked. I know there is an army of lunatics out there who would like nothing better than to enact some vengeance on people with whom they disagree, and I aim to give them as little help in doing this to me as I am able.

Later dude.

[HiTech RedNeck]

El perfecto game-o

[tacticalogic]

Why do you not argue for an amendment explicitly granting the authority to Congress to regulate it?

Marijuana looks more like a gateway to treason against the republic than to heroin.

[reasonisfaith]

The effects of chemicals on the brain are always varied among the population. In other words, 80% might have response A, while 15% have response B, 5% response C, etc.

Your accomplishments on pot as one individual don’t tell us anything. Congratulations, however, on the impressive things you’ve done. All the best to you, and to your son.