For any pot fan who doesn't believe there can be too much of a good thing, meet the laws of supply and demand. When Washington State gave the green light to its legal recreational marijuana marketplace last summer, there was a dearth of licensed weed — not enough for the licensed stores to stay open. Now, after a productive fall harvest, there's too much, causing prices to drop and growers to gripe, The Associated Press reports.
Prices at pot retail shops, roughly $23-25 a gram, are still about twice the price at legal medical dispensaries and the black market, partly due to taxes. But while Washington — unlike Colorado, the other state with a legal pot market — doesn't restrict production of retail marijuana, there are only about 80 stores currently licensed to sell pot. Until more stores are approved, there's a natural bottleneck from farm to bong. Watch growers lament and state regulators shrug in the AP's video report below. —Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
