(GlobalNews) A product line of a Seattle, Wa.-based marijuana retailer, it lives up to its name at US$99 an ounce. That works out to $4.76 a gram Canadian, and it would put the cost of a joint in the $1.50-$2 range. But you get what you pay for, an email from Washington State-based marijuana writer Steve Elliott makes clear.
“It smokes more harshly and burns the throat a bit more than the expensive stuff,” he writes.
There’s more leaf material making up the weight than with a higher-priced product, he explains, and “it’s not exactly ‘bragging rights’ material if you get it out in front of your friends.” On the other hand, though the journey is rougher, the destination is much the same: “The high is often comparable to more expensive weed, but … the taste is nowhere near as fine.” Under legalization, how cheap could marijuana get? At the low end, in the $5 a gram range, says Bruce Linton, CEO of Canopy Growth, a large medical marijuana growing facility in Smiths Falls, Ont., which plans to produce recreational pot after legalization. The cheapest medical marijuana is sold in that price range now. Medreleaf’s cheapest strains for medical customers are $5 a gram. (Medreleaf, a Markham, Ont.-based grower also sells low-THC trimmings, leaf material left behind when buds are prepared, for $3 a gram.) Aphria, a grower in Leamington, Ont., starts at $7.20. The lowest-priced strain from Tweed, a Canopy Growth company (Boaty McBoatface), is $6. Washington State applies a 37 per cent excise tax to recreational pot, so the profit margin on Budget Bud must be tiny. (Uncle Ike’s didn’t respond to a request for comment.) For many years, Canadian provinces have imposed minimum prices on alcohol for a combination of public health and tax reasons. (Basic distilled spirits can be produced very cheaply: a 750ml bottle of vodka costs $6.75 for a distillery to make, but retail prices start around $25.) But with a parallel illegal marijuana market still in place, governments can’t afford to price legal pot too high, Linton argues.
