Today I received a new case wherein my new client was reportedly caught travelling across country with just under 10 pounds of “BC Bud” Marijuana. In speaking with the prosecutor about getting some early discovery, he mentioned that the street value of the MJ was around 1/2 million. Whaaaa? For Marijuana? The Prosecutor indicated that this particular kind of MJ was in high demand and the street value was astronomical. Is he puffing his case? Is the value of BC Bud really that high? In general, as a criminal defense attorney I know much more about the creation, distribution and general marketing of drugs, but this info seems inflated. Anyone know anything about this?
Pursuant to board policy and common sense, I don’t want any information that may be perceived as advocating anything illegal, and I don’t really care how yoiu may know what you know, just what you know, you know?
Thanks
No help here, but it would seem to me that the prosecution would base the charge on the quantity of the marijuana instead of the quality or type. Should we expect the prosecutor to bring a lesser charge if say they arrested someone with ten pounds of homegrown?
BC bud is pretty famous for being really good. It’s definitely not known as the best for the serious smoker, but for somebody with casual knowledge, BC is kind of known as the upper echelons of weed. I’d peg an ounce (which is quite a bit of weed… 10 lbs is like what you see in movies!) at probably being… hmm… this is more guesswork than anything else… around $500-600. That may be a bit high, or it may be a bit low, but it’s probably close. So taking it at $500 * 16 * 10 = $80k, which is a lot, but not even close to half a mil. I’ll see if I can find a better pricing for it and get back to you.
Ugh, I wrote an addendum and it got eaten again. I guess somebody needs to feed the hamsters. Anyway, I was saying that the price can vary hugely depending on where you are, who you know, etc, etc. There is no real market value for it.
Having said that, I take back my first guess at $500. I’d put it closer to $300 max, which makes his estimate at $500000 even more ridiculous.
I think $500-600 per ounce sounds ridiculously high. (ahem) Pun not intended. :smack:
In general, current prices seem to range from $100 per ounce for garbage up to about $300 per ounce for really good stuff. I suppose people sometimes pay as much as $500 per ounce, but I can’t imagine why that would be a good idea.
Ten pounds of weed at half a million? What, do prosecutors get a commission or something?
They don’t price it by the ounce. They price by the smallest amount you can buy which and then assume that the guy selling it would sell it by that amount. Then the multiply by some number they pull out of their butt because it is not like there is a good reference for this sort of thing.
Before this thread gets locked (and I believe it will sooner or later), what about the supposed “government-engineered” buds that was eluded to in the film American Beauty?
I have no personal anecdote to share, but I always assumed that such a thing existed IRL, and that such product would go at a very high premium indeed. I find a half-mil a little unlikely, as do the rest of you, but I’m sure that better growing stock will result in higher pricetags.
The pricing of weed, though, is generally linear. So even if they picked the smallest amount, as long as it’s a realistic number, they should come up with a realistic end number.
As far as why the type of weed matters, it’s probably because when you’re carrying around 10 lbs, you’re definitely looking to sell. And thus the type matters since the higher in demand, the higher “street” value, and the worse the offense.
To sell any product at an inflated price, you need to ask what the buyer is paying for. With “BC Bud” there’s a perception of exceptional quality, which is backed up by the other (ahem) Dopers above. If your client is telling the truth, then his customers are either
apathetic about the price
ignorant of the value
willing to pay a premium to buy from him
deeply stupid
or some combination of those factors. A “go to” guy for a recently-minted rap star, Congressman, or sports star might be told “go find me some BC Bud” and be handed a pile of cash with the understanding that he buys as cheaply as he can and keeps the rest as “commission.”
I’m not 100% sure how this system works, but I know it does. At the Clara Barton Rest Stop on the NJ Turpike, I found a 3x5" spiral bound notebook that was arranged by page as follows:
ARTIST
VENUE
DATE & SHOWTIME
(long list of weird items with names and phone numbers)
e.g.
N SYNC
LYRIC OPERA HOUSE, BALTIMORE
APRIL 3 7pm (Go on at 9:30)
Five black T-Shirts, Hanes cotton ribbed. 2xM, 3xL
Ten white T-shirts, Hanes cotton, smooth 4xM 6xL -
Aquafina water, 100 bottles
Camel + Marlboro
Twizzlers licorice, red (not cherry!)
TWIX
three vegetable platters with carrots but no celery
Several pages didn’t have artist names, but did have things like
“Maui Wowie” - 10
Panama (a little extra)
3X no names
Would prefer tall (natural) redheads
…and so on. It’s possible your client was selling to one of these.
Yes and no - that amount of Marijuana is remarkable, but not unheard of - I have about 1-2 cases a year between 1 and 10 pounds of pot. It does matter in two ways - 1) the quality of the pot and it’s “street value” can make a difference to a sentencing judge (and a jury if I can’t keep that information excluded) because it makes the client look like a bigger fish in the chain of distribution; and 2) (and more importantly) it makes a difference as to if the Feds may want to come in and poach the case.
Here is a good example of the variation in prices. In my wayward days, which were about a year ago, an eighth was a pretty commonly sold amount, and about $40-50 sounds about right for it. A quarter was a bit more, and about double that. So there you go. It all depends on where you are.
As others have mentioned, in drug cases the government (that is, the arresting agency, the DA, etc.) almost always divide the drug into its smallest sale unit, then multiply this by the amount seized to reach a dollar value. This generates lots of publicity for the agency\DA and gets huge numbers in the papers.
This is inaccurate for the same reason that wholesale prices and retail prices are not the same. A seller of large quantities of marijuana might get “only” $1000 a pound, while the next guy in the chain might sell it for $16,000 (160 ounces x $100/ounce). The “wholesaler” sells his weed for relatively cheap price, because he or she typically only has to deal with a few trusted people. There is little risk and little work for the wholesaler. The next guy in the chain (the “retailer”) has to sell 160 units, which might require contacting as many as 160 people, any one of which might be a narc and\or stupid. They get a higher cash payoff, but the amount of work and the risk involves greatly increases too.
But the government likes putting large numbers in the papers, so even if the quantity seized might sell for $1000 in the quantity seized, they’ll divide it up to the lowest street quantity to be able to put the higest possible retail price in the papers.
Having said all that, the DAs estimate still seems quite… “high”
Note: all numbers in this post are made up. But the principle behind them is accurate.
As a defense attorney, you are no doubt familiar with the prosecution’s method of charging an offense as highly as possible, and I believe you are asking for pricing references.
Parental’s cite gives you some references for prices. Rex and gazpacho’s posts are correct on the concept (based on my general knowledge only).
500000 / 10 = $50000 per pound
50000 / 16 = $3125 per ounce
3125 / 8 = $390.62 per eighth
When normally on the street you’re looking at $15 - $40 for an eighth, $390.62 per is just plain wrong. THE most I’ve ever heard for an eighth was $80, nowhere close to the $390 he’s suggesting.
That was my math too. I simply don’t believe there’s any “street” pot at $3125/oz.
The unusual scenario mentioned above by Jurph is a possibility, but not likely irl.
