Other advantages that could lead consumers to accept higher prices that result from a legalized market include: Brands or distinctions, flavors, aromas, quality control (size & potency), research and development of new products, assurance of no foreign substances & convenience to purchase (location and time of the day).

I imagine the market being similar to beers with large brands akin to Miller and Bud light coexisting with microbrews (microharvests?). The larger companies can drive down prices through quantity and produce middle of the road quality while microharvests could survive in smaller markets by charging higher prices for characteristics that distinguish them (ie. Fat Tire, Sweetwater 420). There will be those who are driven by quantity and price while others will pay more for taste and style.

I do think that marijuana products will have to be subject to the same health standards as tobacco product (ie filters). Studies will need to be done relating use to lung cancer. Also advertising standards will have to be the same as for tobacco.

Studies will need to be done relating use to lung cancer.

Such studies have been done. And suprisingly, there is no link between even long term, heavy marijuana use and lung cancer. Among the likely explanations are that though marjuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as as tobacco even heavy smokers don't really consume that much actual material, and that chemical agents in marijuana have anti-cancer properties. The latter of these two theories is supported by other studies showing that canniboids can reduce/inhibit tumors.

JohnAtl:

Other advantages that could lead consumers to accept higher prices that result from a legalized market include: Brands or distinctions, flavors, aromas, quality control (size & potency), research and development of new products, assurance of no foreign substances & convenience to purchase (location and time of the day). I imagine the market being similar to beers with large brands akin to Miller and Bud light coexisting with microbrews (microharvests?). The larger companies can drive down prices through quantity and produce middle of the road quality while microharvests could survive in smaller markets by charging higher prices for characteristics that distinguish them (ie. Fat Tire, Sweetwater 420). There will be those who are driven by quantity and price while others will pay more for taste and style. I do think that marijuana products will have to be subject to the same health standards as tobacco product (ie filters). Studies will need to be done relating use to lung cancer. Also advertising standards will have to be the same as for tobacco.

I think store bought pot will be like Budweiser while real connoisseurs will always seek out the individual grower with the best product quality/cost ratio. There are probably ten thousand varieties/strains of weed, and a whole range of quality factors that depend on the skill and effort of the grower. And there will be a million plus individual micro-growers, all with a variety of extremely high potency weed, and maybe a side brand of commercial weed so Grandma can catch a buzz to overcome her chemo nausea. I would compare it to micro-brewers, really. And that ought to be the model-- micro-growers along side mass producers of low cost "commercial weed." The trick for Uncle Sugar will be in capturing the micro-growers' tax revenue. They'll miss 90% of it, I'll wager.

doodahman:

JohnAtl:

Other advantages that could lead consumers to accept higher prices that result from a legalized market include: Brands or distinctions, flavors, aromas, quality control (size & potency), research and development of new products, assurance of no foreign substances & convenience to purchase (location and time of the day). I imagine the market being similar to beers with large brands akin to Miller and Bud light coexisting with microbrews (microharvests?). The larger companies can drive down prices through quantity and produce middle of the road quality while microharvests could survive in smaller markets by charging higher prices for characteristics that distinguish them (ie. Fat Tire, Sweetwater 420). There will be those who are driven by quantity and price while others will pay more for taste and style. I do think that marijuana products will have to be subject to the same health standards as tobacco product (ie filters). Studies will need to be done relating use to lung cancer. Also advertising standards will have to be the same as for tobacco.

I think store bought pot will be like Budweiser while real connoisseurs will always seek out the individual grower with the best product quality/cost ratio. There are probably ten thousand varieties/strains of weed, and a whole range of quality factors that depend on the skill and effort of the grower. And there will be a million plus individual micro-growers, all with a variety of extremely high potency weed, and maybe a side brand of commercial weed so Grandma can catch a buzz to overcome her chemo nausea. I would compare it to micro-brewers, really. And that ought to be the model-- micro-growers along side mass producers of low cost "commercial weed." The trick for Uncle Sugar will be in capturing the micro-growers' tax revenue. They'll miss 90% of it, I'll wager.

Not really unless you assert that the "micro-growers" will be equivilant to moonshiners. Most micro-growers would probably pay the tax pass the cost to the consumer and avoid the legal hassle.

Todji: Do you have a newsletter or something I could sign up for? You need to write a book or something...

This is just to back you up...

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(Study, largest of its kind, unexpectedly finds no link between marijuana and cancer)

Todji: Do you have a newsletter or something I could sign up for? You need to write a book or something...

Thanks for the compliment. I am working on a book, but unless you're a musician interested in improvisation, it won't do you much good.

A great starting point for information about drugs is erowid.org . They are definitely biased in a pro-drug direction, but they have solid science and good links posted as well.

On a side note that I forgot to address in my first post, there was a study I heard about on NPR some years back that claimed that the use of filters was a marketing gimmick dreamed up by the tobacco companies when the dangers of cigarrette smoking were first becoming known. There is not only no evidence that such filters reduce the dangers of smoking, but some indication that they actually increase the dangers and you're better off smoking non-fillters.

I don't have time to research it right now, so I'll leave it to anyone interested to find the verification.

I am a Jazz Guitar student as well (student as in 'I'll always be a student of Jazz')!

You're my kind of guy... do you have a web site or anything?

todji:

Todji: Do you have a newsletter or something I could sign up for? You need to write a book or something...

Thanks for the compliment. I am working on a book, but unless you're a musician interested in improvisation, it won't do you much good.

A great starting point for information about drugs is erowid.org . They are definitely biased in a pro-drug direction, but they have solid science and good links posted as well.

On a side note that I forgot to address in my first post, there was a study I heard about on NPR some years back that claimed that the use of filters was a marketing gimmick dreamed up by the tobacco companies when the dangers of cigarrette smoking were first becoming known. There is not only no evidence that such filters reduce the dangers of smoking, but some indication that they actually increase the dangers and you're better off smoking non-fillters.

I don't have time to research it right now, so I'll leave it to anyone interested to find the verification.

Erowid is awesome.

I too have spent much time reading people experiences with hallucinogens (esp. DMT) which I find utterly fascinating, due to my own experiences with some of these...

I too have spent much time reading people experiences with hallucinogens (esp. DMT) which I find utterly fascinating, due to my own experiences with some of these...

Did you do straight DMT or Ayahuasca? I've never had the opportunity to try it straight, but I've tried Ayahuasca a few times. What a strange and wonderful plant. Never had the opportunity to try DMT straight though.

Did you talk to any aliens? Spirit beings? I don't particularly believe in such things, but I did have a conversation with a nature spirit of some kind- it laughed at me.

With all the media hype, I couldn't resist trying a little Salvia. Probably telling you what you already know, but the experience is comparable in some ways to DMT- really fast acting, really intense, and really short-lived. Chemically of a totally different class/nature than any other known substances. Plus, its legal in most places!

I am a Jazz Guitar student as well (student as in 'I'll always be a student of Jazz')!
That's the beauty of it- always more to learn. Do you play out? Teach? What sort of stuff do you play?

You're my kind of guy... do you have a web site or anything?

Yes and no. My domain is http://www.betweennotes.com . But I need to get the actual content together and get it hosted. I just started a programming gig, but I'm hoping to get back to teaching, playing, etc. this fall and will get the website together then.

What about yourself?