# More lies. (War on drugs, again) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550 "2005-02-11T06:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/1 "2005-02-11T06:01:30Z")
The last time I posted on this, was [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=288851&highlight=marijuana). Where it was cited that “225 pounds of Marijuana = $10,000,000 millions dollars” (sorry, the link is ‘MIA’). This [latest](http://cnn.aimtoday.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20050209/2126547357.htm) one however… > [@](#): > > The **12,750 pounds** of marijuana were worth at least **$6 million** , said Special Agent Lawrence Hardie of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Has inflation decreased in the last three months? Or is marijuana considered to have a cheaper street value if it’s hidden in more creative ways? ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/2 "2005-02-11T06:23:11Z")
So apparently the secret to storing/selling weed is breaking it up in chunks of 225lbs, so as to increase its maximum street value. Apparently there’s some sort of critical mass or something which causes the price to deflate once it reaches that point… ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/3 "2005-02-11T09:11:54Z")
It seems like they just pull the stats out of their asses. It would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/4 "2005-02-11T16:35:07Z")
12,750 pounds = 204,000 ounces. 204,000 ounces = 1,632,000 eighth ounce bags 'Round these parts an eighth goes for up to $40. I get $65,280,000. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/5 "2005-02-11T17:29:08Z")
So what, specifically, is the lie? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/6 "2005-02-11T17:52:23Z")
The lie comes from both sources. You don’t see the difference in price between the two findings extremely questionable? In the latest link, they’re really shortchanging the value. And in the first link, they have inflated to the value to an almost unaffordable price upon the breakdown of the stuff for your average city in the U.S. I believe **vetbridge** got it right (give or take $10, depending on the source). If it’s not a lie, it’s deceptive. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/7 "2005-02-11T17:57:27Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > 12,750 pounds = 204,000 ounces. > > 204,000 ounces = 1,632,000 eighth ounce bags > > 'Round these parts an eighth goes for up to $40. > > I get $65,280,000. That’s if the entire 12,750 pounds was sold in increments of 1/8 ounce, which is highly unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/8 "2005-02-11T18:15:25Z")
If they were “big” wheelers & dealers and only sold oz’s and priced them at $100 (from what I understand is the going price around here) , that would come up to $20,400,000. :eek: From what I’ve heard from people is that regular dealers don’t normally sell in that big a quantity on a regular basis, as they make more money by selling smaller portions like 3-7 gram bags for $5-$10 each. Just my thoughts though: IANADD 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/9 "2005-02-11T20:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s if the entire 12,750 pounds was sold in increments of 1/8 ounce, which is highly unlikely. It also depends on the quality of the weed. An eighth of stress can go for twenty bucks (or even ten… nobody smokes stress anymore), while an eighth of kush can go for a hunnerd bucks. Then there’s the bulk quantities that most “suppliers” charge, which usually comes out to around 25-30 bucks per eighth of chronic. But John Q. Public doesn’t need to know this. They just need to know that their society is “safer” now because some totally harmless material has been taken off their streets. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/10 "2005-02-11T20:05:32Z")
> [@](#): > > If they were “big” wheelers & dealers and only sold oz’s and priced them at $100 (from what I understand is the going price around here) Crikey, where do you live? Ounces probably go for $250, at best, in southern California. Probably closer to $300… and that’d be for the suppliers selling it to the dealers. Dealers probably charge closer to $400 per ounce. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/11 "2005-02-11T20:10:54Z")
:eek: Maybe because it’s a college town, or there’s so much competition…I dunno, but that’s what it goes for around here…ummm…or so I’ve heard. 😃 Now is stress the same as crippy (sp?), because an 1/8 of that I’ve heard goes for about $40-$50. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/12 "2005-02-11T20:15:25Z")
Stress is the lowest grade o’ weed you can find (I’ve never heard the term “crippy”). Chronic is mid-range, and seems to be the “standard”. Kush is the high-end shit. An eighth is 3.5 grams and usually goes for $40-$50 (if chronic). A ten dollar bag is usually half a gram. I, uh… know all this because, uh… I’m writing a book! Yeah. A book. And I want it to, uh… be as authentic as possible. Yeah. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/13 "2005-02-11T20:16:53Z")
Ohhh…in that case crippy=kush. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/14 "2005-02-11T23:01:58Z")
> [@Andros\_X](#): > > It seems like they just pull the stats out of their asses. It would explain a lot. Well, that’s where we get the rest of our drug policy, so I guess this doesn’t really come as a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/15 "2005-02-12T15:57:21Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > That’s if the entire 12,750 pounds was sold in increments of 1/8 ounce, which is highly unlikely. Sure, it is unlikely but it shows the maximum amount that you could get for that weight if you were willing to do 1.5 million transactions. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/16 "2005-02-12T16:05:50Z")
Suddenly “ **Weed\*Mart** ” just popped into mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/17 "2005-02-12T16:12:05Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > Crikey, where do you live? Ounces probably go for $250, at best, in southern California. Probably closer to $300… and that’d be for the suppliers selling it to the dealers. Dealers probably charge closer to $400 per ounce. Are you serious?! Sweet Jesus on a stick, when did I get so old! Back in the day when I finally QUIT partaking in such recreational pastimes, the price was $30 - $35 an oz. The “good” stuff would be $40 or so. I think I am going to go crawl back into bed and cry for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/18 "2005-02-12T22:22:08Z")
> [@abbeytxs](#): > > Are you serious?! Sweet Jesus on a stick, when did I get so old! Back in the day when I finally QUIT partaking in such recreational pastimes, the price was $30 - $35 an oz. The “good” stuff would be $40 or so. > > I think I am going to go crawl back into bed and cry for awhile. My dad claims that when he was in college, he and his three roommates used to pool their cash and buy a _pound_. That was like $160 back then. Sorta puts into perspective all the ways my parents claim to have suffered in their youth. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/19 "2005-02-12T22:28:00Z")
Keep in mind, the price increase on weed is largely a direct result of increased interdiction and enforcement. The stuff would probably still be dirt cheap if it weren’t for the attendent legal dangers of growing and selling it. The War on Drugs: making dealers rich for over twenty years. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550/20 "2005-02-13T14:26:53Z")
> [@](#): > > The last time I posted on this, was here. Where it was cited that “225 pounds of Marijuana = $10,000,000 millions dollars” Wouldn’t that be pronounced “ten million millions dollars dollars”? Ten _trillion_ dollars? That does seem a bit high. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-lies-war-on-drugs-again/289550.md?page=2)