Business
Cost Per Milligram of THC? – Are Edibles the Most Cost-Effective Cannabis Products on the Market?
Cannabis-infused drinks are hot, but the cost per milligram of THC is through the roof!
As cannabis reform spread across the United States, so much has changed within a short time. With increased cannabis demand, cannabis product production has also increased dramatically, and the quality and amount of concentrates, edibles, and flowers has exploded. An effect of this is the decrease in prices of cannabis products in well-established legal cannabis markets across the United States.
This is good news for many cannabis consumers as plenty of options are now available to them to find which method and cannabis product gives them the best high. Consumers who prefer smoking flowers have available to them countless strains across legal dispensaries. Those who love concentrates can also make their choice from isolate to full-spectrum and edibles lovers can choose between infused olive oil and various gummies.
Nonetheless, while the cannabis sector keeps growing and trying to meet the specific needs and preferences of consumers, many consumers are limited by the cash in hand. Hence, they are rather bound to choose their product based on the money at hand instead of valued effects.
Because of this, edibles are said to be gaining more popularity, especially among consumers living in recently-legalized cannabis states. This is because the price of flowers continues to increase due to overwhelming demand, hence, becoming more expensive than edibles. As a result many turn to edibles given their cheaper and more standardized pricing.
Are Edibles Cheaper Than Other Marijuana Products?
Across the United States, edibles pricing is said to be cheaper and more standardized than flowers for several reasons. A primary reason is that the production of edibles requires less labor and specialized conditions than flowers.
Large-scale cultivation of cannabis flowers needs a massive amount of space to keep cannabis plants healthy and distanced. Meanwhile, that’s not the case for edibles that require less space. Asides from space, growers also need to be able to produce vast energy for ventilation and lighting, huge raw materials such as nutrients and soul, and adequate water for prior irrigation of the farm. In comparison to edibles production, flower production tends to require more equipment, and cost.
There’s also the aspect of human labor invested in the cultivation and processing of cannabis buds. Flower being an end product is priced and valued higher when it is meticulously pruned and cured which requires more attention and time, hence more resources. On the other hand, cannabis chefs don’t have to invest that much energy and effort into edibles production since the process is more streamlined and easy to automate.
In addition to this, edible manufacturers only come in contact with flowers when delivered to them as processable trim. This is where the biggest price differences lie. Extracts used in producing edibles are usually sourced from less desirable cannabis plant parts, like popcorn and shake buds. As a result, edible manayfactites can purchase plant parts at discounted prices from cannabis farmers.
With cheaper plant parts, edibles manufacturers can produce quality cannabis products, infusing cannabinoids into various digestible forms. Thus, the cheaper and standardized pricing at dispensaries. For many consumers with the right mindset, biological makeup, and tolerance, edibles have become their go-to product preference.
How Edibles are Different From Joints
Lungs are the shortcut to the body’s bloodstream, thus, smoking cannabis gives a quick effect within 10 minutes. This is the primary selling point for cannabis smokers. On the other hand, edibles take more than an hour for the effects to kick in.
But for many patients enough to wait, their patience pays off when those edibles start kicking in. Since cannabinoids are broken down by the liver over time, edible effects can last up to six hours. Meanwhile, for joints, the effects usually last for half the time. In addition to this, the liver digests and breaks down delta-9 THC into 11-hydroxy THC, offering a more powerful high and psychoactive effect.
Is Price the Primary Reason for Increased Edibles Sales?
Given these reasons, the question remains if the price is a big enough factor to influence consumers’ choice to switch to edibles? The truth is sales of edibles have been increasing in cannabis legalized sales and the price can’t be ignored. The price of edibles is generally around $20 – $30 depending on the type of product and quantity. These prices get you 15 to 20 doses of THC in genral on the illicit market, maybe 10 to 12 on the legal market. Meanwhile, an eight sells for about $57 in Illinois and Massachusetts.
The truth is paying less for a product that offers a more potent and longer high will always be a financial draw. It’s safe to assume that some consumers would prefer to have more THC than less regardless of what form it is. Nonetheless, sales of edibles have increased across the United States since the pandemic.
Beyond cost, there are other factors responsible for the sudden increase in the trend of consumers switching to edibles. The first factor is that for first-timers, edibles are an easier entry point to cannabis use. Another factor is stress relief. A lot of Americans are stressed and no longer want to turn to prescription drugs or alcohol for relief, making weed a viable option. While pot has fewer downsides compared to prescription drugs and alcohol, inhaling or smoking pot into your lungs is a deviation from the norm. Meanwhile, chewing and swallowing cannabis (edibles) seems to be the natural order of things.
Another concern for many consumers that may be driving up sales of edibles is the issue of health and safety. Since the CoronaVirus, a lot of people are now wary of behaviors like smoking that may irritate and expose the lung to Viral exposure. So more people are now inclined to go for edibles.
Conclusion
The reason why the sale of edibles is increasing, be it heightened health and safety concerns or price differences remains unclear. However, once the legal cannabis markets grow and stabilize across the United States, it will become apparent if price differences are responsible for flower lovers making short-term economic decisions. Or better still, if the heightened potency and long-lasting effects of edibles have gained new fans across the country.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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