California's pot economy is crashing.
What comes next?

Imagine trying to tax lawn clippings, or hedge trimmings. Now have it treated as a tax crime, guilty until proven innocent, when they don't pay the tax. Changed for the better, or worse? Who would have seen this coming?

MJ is a weed that needs soil, lots of sunshine, and a little bit of water. Michigan has chill, snow, and lots of rain during the summer so it's more practical for folks there to just buy it. But in California, anyone can grow it legally for free during the 6+ months of warm, uninterrupted sunshine every year. All you need is a backyard, so why pay all those taxes? Article mentions the illicit market but fails to say anything about the cartels, which have expanded across the border and are taking over cultivation throughout the state.

LOL! California bureaucrats can't even figure out how to sell drugs successfully. Yet, lots of inner city 15 year olds seem to have it figured out.

My grower neighbors all enthusiastically lobbied for legalization. They longed to be legitimate. Most of all they wanted access to regular banking. I warned them they would not like legalization, nor the regulations, inspectors, permits and fees. I explained legalization would bring in large investors backing big commercial operations that would control from growing to selling, and that banking was federally regulated so the state had no authority. I pointed out they had the upper hand in the situation, and should just keep the status quo of offering up a few growers every year to federal busts. My words fell on deaf ears. I don't know if they were remembered once independent growers began to deal with inspectors enforcing state regulation and taxes, county regs and taxes, and city regs and taxes for those poor souls within town limits. Every government entity wanted to get in on the new California "Green Rush". As #2 pointed out, the cartels never stopped their shipments across the border or their illegal grows on National Forest land, undercutting the now higher prices the local growers needed to charge to cover their increased production costs. After the first three years of legalization about half the growers just quit, the other half cut their production. It's really rather sad in a way. I rather enjoyed the old outlaw spirit when we first moved here 25 years ago. Every year at harvest time a white Ferrari would show up parked at the bottom our subdivision mountain road for about a week before it disappeared, until the next harvest. I always hoped to get a glimpse of the owner, but never did. Transient hippie kids would show up along the highway looking for harvest work decked out in tie-die and beads bearing signs, "Will Trim for Bud". A lot of cash flowed through town back then; cash for groceries, for lumber, for clothes, at restaurants, at bars...everywhere. We also had three mills (out of once 28) running and they were still cutting timber in the local forests. (We're down to one mill now.) The State of California can't even make money selling pot. Our bureaucrats put the "fun" in dysfunctional!

California fails at something else. Something must be wrong with the management. You have a large state with beautiful weather, scenery, beaches and mountains yet people keep moving out. Future business books will use you as an example of extreme stupidity.

The difference between government management and free trade..

The thing that cracks me up about this is that the powers that be in Kalifornia actually expected a bunch of stoners to pay their taxes. I heard on the radio yesterday that Martha’s Vineyard is running out of weed with no solution to the “problem”. May I suggest that Governor Abbott send in another couple of planeloads of illegals so that they can do the weed farming for the elites?

Same in Colorado.

Watch Murder Mountain to see how legally growing reefer works out.

Ummm...give me a minute to think this complicated problem through...potheads running a business...what can go wrong?

FTA:California has created an almost perfect environment to push customers toward the illicit market. It’s extremely expensive to open a legal business... Exactly what many people predicted. CA punishes legally operating pot businesses but largely turns a blind eye to illegal operations. The marketplace at work.

It was inevitable. The legal pot costs much more than the illegal weed t cthat's been readily available for almost a century. And a consequence of legalization was the almost complete elimination of law enforcement concern about illegal buyers and sellers, unless you are dealing in tons of the stuff. You can't tell legal weed from illegal weed so why bother? Legalization took away the risk of buying illegal weed and made the regulatory burden so that the legal dealers were at significantly higher risk of legal action for non compliance. And they wonder why very expensive legal weed is unable to compete with cheap illegal weed.

Michigan is raking in the tax dollars from Pot, they didn't add too many government regulations except for strict testing for dangerous ingredients and the left the tax low so as to not make it more expensive than street pot. Commiefornia can mess up everything and anything.

There's a 'Department of Cannabis Control'? Sounds like an article from The 'Bee'

Here in Florida, pot legalization is on the ballot this November. The proponents like to say the tax revenue will go to improving our schools and roads. What's happening in California shows the exact opposite. The reason California pot is failing is because your typical addict is always looking for a bigger high than legalized pot. Safety isn't a priority. Just say no to pot legalization.

Sad that some see pot grower as "just another business" when it is destroying people's lives.

Leftists could screw up a Nail. Putting more in their Political Coffins works!

What comes next? How about state licensed cocaine , heroin and fentanyl stores? Those are things that aren't easy to grow in your back yard.

Actually California's pot economy is probably doing great, its the tax economy that isn't.

ca is a robust agricultural state - growing weed profitably should not be a problem. However, i doubt you would find equivalent taxing and fees on any other ag crop (eg broccoli). they are killing the golden goose.