# About The Legal, Recreational Pot Trade in Colorado **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947 "2015-01-04T14:53:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/41 "2015-03-05T15:28:55Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Even if it’s made legal at the federal level, and every state legalizes it the next day, employers will still be able to fire you for smoking it. That’s not to say that employers across the country won’t start tweaking their drug policies; however, they will still be able to fire you for testing positive for pot if they want to, illegal or not. This is exactly as it was discussed in our management discussion. Legality is not really the question at the corporate level ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/42 "2015-03-05T15:54:04Z")
How ironic it would be if the retailers had to cope with employee problems by ordering UAs. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/43 "2015-03-05T15:58:07Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Even if it’s made legal at the federal level, and every state legalizes it the next day, employers will still be able to fire you for smoking it. That’s not to say that employers across the country won’t start tweaking their drug policies; however, they will still be able to fire you for testing positive for pot if they want to, illegal or not. That should be a boon for the pharmaceutical pot industry. I can’t imagine that’d work too well, firing somebody who’s got a prescription for it… ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/44 "2015-03-05T16:20:37Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Are there cases of tourists getting sick from consuming too much? I’m not sure if “sick” is the right word, but [Maureen Dowd](http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2014/06/09/why-eating-a-marijuana-candy-bar-sent-maureen-dowd-to-paranoia-hell/) wrote about freaking out when she ate too much of a pot candy bar while visiting Denver. If you are not familiar with smoking pot, it would behoove you to be very judicious in your use while in Colorado. As others have said, marijuana has gotten very potent over the years, and I can certainly imagine that it would be a jarring experience for someone not used to the effects. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/45 "2015-03-05T16:21:35Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That should be a boon for the pharmaceutical pot industry. I can’t imagine that’d work too well, firing somebody who’s got a prescription for it… Depends on the job. A truck driver can’t be taking hydrocodone, prescription or not. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/46 "2015-03-05T19:11:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve heard prices for marijuana run around $25/gram here in Washington, and I’ve wondered how much a gram of marijuana is. (I don’t know how much an ounce of it is either.) But even though I’m not 20 anymore, I still remember about how much is in a joint. That helped. (I still want to go into a shop sometime though, just to see. Maybe buy a gram just because I can. Frame it, or something.) With respect to **HeyHomie** , a really big blueberry with a diameter about the size of a penny. **An ounce is 28 of those**! Normal retail in Denver is about $20-25 but some shops run specials and you can pick up a gram for $10. As mentioned upthread–walk in, giggle like a kid for a few minutes at the surreality of such a place, present ID, chat with the knowlegable sales staff about strengths & sativa vs. indica, make your purchase. Like buying a bagel, but somehow more fun. I measure strength on a beer scale. For me 1 hit = 2 beers, 2 = 4 beers, 3 = 9 beers, 4 = brain smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick; and diminishing returns after. Upside = sober in a few hours. I seldom take a 4th go at the pipe because I don’t like being that out of control–no way would I ever try a whole joint on my own. I think a ‘sensibly’ strong joint for one person would be mostly paper at this point. I can get about 4-6 bowls out of a gram, 6-8 hits/bowl. I have a life and a job, and am seeing some early dementia anyway (before I ever did weed, thankyouverymuch) so that gram lasts probably 5-6 months. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/47 "2015-03-05T20:00:22Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I measure strength on a beer scale. For me 1 hit = 2 beers, 2 = 4 beers, 3 = 9 beers, 4 = brain smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick; and diminishing returns after. Upside = sober in a few hours. I seldom take a 4th go at the pipe because I don’t like being that out of control–no way would I ever try a whole joint on my own. I have a cousin who claims he had so much one time that he smoked himself straight. His theory was that if he were to continue the process, smoking through stonedness to straight again, by the third pass, he would attain the ultimate reality. He was a crazy fuck, I stay away from him. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/48 "2015-03-05T20:19:10Z")
**HeyHomie** has really big blueberries. 😉 Two months ago when I made post #33 I mentioned that the price in Washington was about twice the historical illegal trade, it has since dropped to roughly equal. If you click on the link in #33 now you will see a couple offerings at $140 per half ounce, which is $10 per gram and is the historical price on the black market. One full ounce will roughly fill a pint Mason jar, for visual reference. No stems or seeds that you don’t need. Active link to store still in post #33. At some point, soon to be reached, it will make absolutely no sense for anyone to be growing or selling pot illegally. The market is swiftly fading away for underground pot. The state legislature of Washington has plans to revise their tax structure to eliminate the 3 tier taxes and replace it with a flat tax of 30%. They currently tax the product at the grower, again at the processor, and again at the retail level. By going to one tax, one time, they are hoping to capture more of the illegal market because it will again lower the price and reduce illegal participation in the market. And to bring the “medical pot” in under the same umbrella. [http://www.katu.com/politics/Washington-House-readies-its-version-of-pot-market-overhaul--294914001.html](http://www.katu.com/politics/Washington-House-readies-its-version-of-pot-market-overhaul--294914001.html) And lets face it, there is a market that isn’t going away. Who do you want to give the money to? I find it to be a very positive development to do a little on-line window shopping, go to a professional looking store, talk to a non-threatening lady who looks like an elementary school teacher and buy. The drug dealers and cartels simply are being phased out as far as pot goes. We will leave them to the heroin and meth. And I doubt that any resident of Washington, like **Johnny L.A.** has even noticed a difference in public behavior. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/49 "2015-03-05T20:26:05Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > \*\*And lets face it, there is a market that isn’t going away. Who do you want to give the money to? _Not the gubmint! No, no, no, the gubmint is Evil!_ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/50 "2015-03-05T20:30:55Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have a cousin who claims he had so much one time that he smoked himself straight. His theory was that if he were to continue the process, smoking through stonedness to straight again… I got $10 that says he just passed out and woke up sober 2 days later. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/51 "2015-03-05T21:53:46Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > **HeyHomie** has really big blueberries. 😉 _Damn right._ ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/52 "2015-03-06T05:51:28Z")
This is weird and interesting: [quote=“[Puget Sound Biz Journal: Town to Open Pot Store] ([http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/03/05/only-in-washington-state-first-ever-government-run.html](http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/03/05/only-in-washington-state-first-ever-government-run.html))”]The city of North Bonneville near the Columbia Gorge in Southern Washington state wants to build a new playground for its kids. The city’s park hasn’t been updated since the early 1970s. The 968-person town has an innovative idea to raise the money needed to fix the park: North Bonneville is opening [a] government-run recreational pot shop … The Cannabis Corner will open on Saturday and will likely rake in the green. Tim Dudley, board member of the agency responsible for the shop, estimates it will generate about $3.5 million in revenue in its first year, and that’s a low projection. [/quote] It may worth noting that North Bonneville is very near Oregon, so they have the advantage of trading in a product that can legally be taken across the nearest state line. Though, I suspect, Cascade Locks could have a shop with better prices not very far away. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/53 "2015-03-06T17:48:53Z")
[It’s driving some Colorado sheriffs nuts that they can’t arrest people in possession of marijuana.](http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/03/05/sheriffs-suing-colorado-over-legal-marijuana/31158/) I suspect the downturn in property seizures is really behind this suit and that’s pretty repulsive. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947/54 "2015-03-06T18:03:34Z")
Yeah, darned shame they’re being forced to live within their tax-appropriated budget and not by being (legally authorized) highway thieves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legal-recreational-pot-trade-in-colorado/708947.md?page=2)