Regional media outlets covering Saturday's legal marijuana auction in Prosser, Wash., have reported that there were 400 pounds available and that the organizers netted roughly $600,000 for an average wholesale selling price of $1,500 per pound.
That compares favorably against wholesale marijuana prices in Northern California, where many pirate and quasi-legal medical growers have long feared that legalization of recreational marijuana will decimate the commodity's value. When Proposition 19 was on the ballot in 2009, which would've legalized recreational use of marijuana in California, growers in Southern Humboldt feared that prices might drop as low as $500 per pound. Despite Prop 19's failure at the ballot box, harvest season prices for NorCal growers have dipped below $1,000 per pound in some cases -- particularly if the crop had problems with mites or mold.
The Fireweed Farm auction was reportedly supervised by officials from the state Liquor Control Board, and only licensed retailers and processors were permitted to bid. This is a much more regulated model of distribution than the one that's emerged in California's medicinal marijuana dispensary network -- where purchasing typically takes place behind closed doors.
The additional regulation, limiting the number of buyers and sellers through a licensing process, may in part be responsible for the $1,500 per pound average Fireweed Farms netted at their auction. It's also possible that the wholesale price of marijuana by the pound will decrease over time as the novelty wears off.
For now, however, there are a probably a lot of black-market growers in Northern California who would love to get the kind of prices that Fireweed Farms did this weekend.
(Source: The Tri-city Herald http://bit.ly/1BET2FW)
That compares favorably against wholesale marijuana prices in Northern California, where many pirate and quasi-legal medical growers have long feared that legalization of recreational marijuana will decimate the commodity's value. When Proposition 19 was on the ballot in 2009, which would've legalized recreational use of marijuana in California, growers in Southern Humboldt feared that prices might drop as low as $500 per pound. Despite Prop 19's failure at the ballot box, harvest season prices for NorCal growers have dipped below $1,000 per pound in some cases -- particularly if the crop had problems with mites or mold.
The Fireweed Farm auction was reportedly supervised by officials from the state Liquor Control Board, and only licensed retailers and processors were permitted to bid. This is a much more regulated model of distribution than the one that's emerged in California's medicinal marijuana dispensary network -- where purchasing typically takes place behind closed doors.
The additional regulation, limiting the number of buyers and sellers through a licensing process, may in part be responsible for the $1,500 per pound average Fireweed Farms netted at their auction. It's also possible that the wholesale price of marijuana by the pound will decrease over time as the novelty wears off.
For now, however, there are a probably a lot of black-market growers in Northern California who would love to get the kind of prices that Fireweed Farms did this weekend.
(Source: The Tri-city Herald http://bit.ly/1BET2FW)
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