The market in Nevada for recreational marijuana has made it so price hikes are common and as a result are hurting the state’s medical MJ industry.
The price of medical marijuana in some parts of Nevada “has almost doubled”, according to KTNV TV station. This raises concerns about unaffordable medical cannabis which may force desperate patients to turn to the black market.
An MMJ patient named Emily Wilson says that she knows several patients who have stopped relying on dispensaries and have turned to the black market because of higher medicinal cannabis prices. The general manager of Las Vegas dispensary ‘ReLeaf’ admits to the fact that she has seen a “decrease” in MMJ business according to KTNV TV.
Several Nevada dispensaries are attempting to curb this by incentivizing customers to stay away from the black market with benefits such as letting them go to the front of retail lines as well as making sure products that patients are reliant on are always well stocked.
According to research done by a wholesale marijuana pricing data company named Cannabis Benchmarks, the average price in Nevada for a pound of wholesale marijuana went up almost $400 in the first week of July (right after the recreational market was up and running).
The price hikes are said to be the result of a shortage of inventory caused by the unexpected high volume and popularity of Nevada’s early start rec program. To get the adult-use program off the ground by July 1, retailers had to sell their remaining product from their MMJ inventory in order to get ready for the new regulations.
All of this leads customers to a difficult choice between money and legality. If patients choose to use the black market, it almost defeats the purpose of legalization. Should the government have regulation on the prices of marijuana, or should legalization occur quicker so natural competition can bring prices to an equilibrium?
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