We're out of weed mon.....Jamaica runs out of pot

[DAB]

https://news.sky.com/story/jamaicas-...sment-12209752

Bad weather and a drop in the number of farmers has led to a marijuana shortage in Jamaica.

Marijuana fields were pummelled by heavy rain during last year's hurricane season, before being scorched in the drought that followed, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in losses.

"It destroyed everything," said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the southwest of Jamaica.

Strict COVID-19 measures made the situation worse, especially a 6pm curfew that meant farmers could not tend to their fields at night as is routine.

A lack of roads forces farmers to walk to their fields and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do those chores at night due to the curfew.

"It's a cultural embarrassment," said Triston Thompson from Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the country's nascent legal cannabis industry.

He added: "Last year was the worst year. We've never had this amount of loss. It's something so laughable that cannabis is short in Jamaica."

Jamaica, which has long been associated with pot, reggae, and Rastafarians, authorised a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalised the possession of small amounts of weed in 2015.

People caught with two ounces (56 grams) or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and face no arrest or criminal record.

The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke marijuana for sacramental purposes.

But enforcement is patchy, as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown more scarce - and more expensive.

Paul Burke, chief executive of Jamaica's Ganja Growers and Producers Association, said people are no longer afraid of being locked up now that the government allows possession of small amounts.

He said the stigmatisation of cannabis has diminished and more people are appreciating its claimed therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.

But the government's Cannabis Licensing Authority - which has authorised 29 cultivators and issued 73 licenses for transportation, retail, processing and other activities - said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry.

Farmers and activists say weed sold via legal dispensaries, known as herb houses, is out of reach for many given that it still costs five to 10 times more than pot on the street.

hmmm....thought we had a pot smoking smilie.

[Y2Kvert4me]

Originally Posted by DAB

hmmm....thought we had a pot smoking smilie.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

obviously i was looking for something more reggae. but that will suffice. thought he had a big afro.

it is then.

[99 pewtercoupe]

Years ago my wife and I went to Jamaica. All inclusive resort used to be The Playboy Club. We are lying on the beach fairly close to the fence line that runs down into the ocean. I hear this voice “Hey Mon, you want any ganja?” This Rasta type dude is on the other side of the fence motioning to me. I said no thanks. So then he says “You want a woman Mon “. I said I already had a woman as my wife was right beside me. He yelled back “No problem Mon, I get you a white woman”. At that point my wife insisted we leave 😁

[DAB]

Originally Posted by 99 pewtercoupe

Years ago my wife and I went to Jamaica. All inclusive resort used to be The Playboy Club. We are lying on the beach fairly close to the fence line that runs down into the ocean. I hear this voice “Hey Mon, you want any ganja?” This Rasta type dude is on the other side of the fence motioning to me. I said no thanks. So then he says “You want a woman Mon “. I said I already had a woman as my wife was right beside me. He yelled back “No problem Mon, I get you a white woman”. At that point my wife insisted we leave 😁

"Hey, where the white women at?" - YouTube

How much for the little girl? - YouTube

[99 pewtercoupe]

Originally Posted by DAB

"Hey, where the white women at?" - YouTube

How much for the little girl? - YouTube

😂😂😂

[Blademaker]

Lol......Our Aunt is a sales rep for a grower in Oklahoma, and there's a HUGE glut of weed out there.
In Davis, OK there was a dispensary on every corner, and it's only legal medically, but their medical possession laws seemed an awful lot like recreational.
Go figure.

[bill_daniels]

Originally Posted by Blademaker

Lol......Our Aunt is a sales rep for a grower in Oklahoma, and there's a HUGE glut of weed out there.
In Davis, OK there was a dispensary on every corner, and it's only legal medically, but their medical possession laws seemed an awful lot like recreational.
Go figure.

It's interesting that the rapid state legalization efforts haven't lowered the actual price of pot. The whole point of it being worth trading illicitly is that the danger of being arrested and losing your freedom and your money made pot worth a premium to the buyer.

You'd think the non legal barriers to entry for going in the business of growing plants would be very few. More supply should drive down prices, as growers compete for market share.

I get that the taxes and regulations add a great deal of cost to state legal (but still federally illegal) pot, but still, when there's a bigger supply than demand of any other product, the price goes down. I was filling up with regular unleaded for $ 1.50 a gallon under Trump, for example.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

It's interesting that the rapid state legalization efforts haven't lowered the actual price of pot. .

I would disagree, to a point.
In California and Washington States, the prices for gummies, etc., is a lot less than anywhere else.
Why?
IMO, they have been legal there for long enough to have a critical mass on stores that dispense built up, so consequently, there is huge competition for your business.
I'm thinking that your experience is in places where it was just legalized.
It'll take a few years after legalization for the prices to come down.
Plus, if you get lucky and hit a good sale......

Ringo Starr - No No Song - Lyrics - YouTube

[bill_daniels]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

I would disagree, to a point.
In California and Washington States, the prices for gummies, etc., is a lot less than anywhere else.
Why?
IMO, they have been legal there for long enough to have a critical mass on stores that dispense built up, so consequently, there is huge competition for your business.
I'm thinking that your experience is in places where it was just legalized.
It'll take a few years after legalization for the prices to come down.
Plus, if you get lucky and hit a good sale......

Ringo Starr - No No Song - Lyrics - YouTube

I'll confess that other than a few times in high school, and once in Amsterdam, in a coffee shop, I really have no experience with pot, so I'll defer to your expertise. Having said that, I don't get why the price of pot isn't down to the level of buying organic tomatoes, or rather, the price of organic tomatoes plus the taxes levied all along the way.