Black Market and Weed in Canukistan.
Yes, BM prices have fallen in response to the legal stuff.
Legal weed can be upto $12.00 a gram, it varies where you are, starting from about $6.00. One major problem in availability. In Ontario, you have a Population of 14.5 million spread over an area 4 times the size of the entire UK and it is serviced by 25 retail outlets. Or you can order online, but then you need access to both a computer and a credit card. With no CC, no weed. As it is setup now, it is government weed for the middle and upper classes and the local dealer for everybody else. Then you have the issue of quality and availability, lets just say that the legal stuff is getting there, slowly. It is a crapshoot as to if you get nice nugs, or stragley bad trim that should have made hash or oil.
Local dealer will sell you a quarter ounce (7grams) for 40.00 and usually give you a small discount for the more you buy. They are a phone call and 10 minutes away and they take cash, cash and only cash, so no computer or CC required.
About the only thing that is a positive about the legal retail market is the availability of different strains, knowing what the THC and CBD content is and having an idea on what the effects may be, (assuming you can get any, and they don't screw up as they seem to be wont to do far to often if news and rumour are to be believed) as opposed to the local dealer who probably has a single strain or maybe two or three, but they may or may not really know what it is depending upon if they grow or source from wherever... I got bargain, mids and wheelchair, how much you wanna spend?
Since my accidents and TBI, I have been a medial user (Dr. prescription) to help with the chronic migraine. It does not take it away, but does suppress it enough to greatly increase my quality of life. Much better stoned and functional then bed-bound. As I need to balance the THC and CBD ratio and amount if I want maximum benefit I have to go legal or to one of the "grey market" online sites that work with a select number of growers and test and publish results.
Strange that the grey market sites can provide a better service, higher quality product, with far far less packaging at the same or better cost than the fully legal provincial site. (and yes they collect sales tax)
Still, overall, the sky has not fallen and what it comes down to is the people that smoke/vape/munch now do it legally, and the people who don't still don't. No real shift in consumption demographics
In my opinion, the Black/Grey market will never disappear. The best they can hope to do is the same they do with smokes and booze, try to keep the cost premium low enough that Joe Punter will choose to stay legal. However that breaks down more the further towards the bottom of the economic ladder you fall. Poor people will always go to the Reservation for smokes and booze and the local dealer for weed as they can not afford to do otherwise.
Just my opinion and it is worth what you paid for it.
