Legal recreational marijuana sales are booming in Colorado. The month of June saw Colorado sell more recreational marijuana than any other month up to that point. July sales statistics are not out yet. But despite the significant amount of legal recreational marijuana sales in Colorado, there is still a need to grow more marijuana in order to lower prices so that the blackmarket doesn’t seem as appealing to consumers. Per USA Today:
“Right now, we are pretty significantly under what should be produced,” said Ron Kammerzell, deputy senior director of enforcement for the state Department of Revenue.
“What that does is, (it) raises the prices and if the price is too high, then we can’t compete with the black market and that was our ultimate goal — we wanted to eliminate the black market,” Kammerzell said.
I think most customers are willing to pay a little more at a legal marijuana store than they are on the black market. Going to a store supports schools and other things that marijuana taxes go to, and the variety at a store is usually better than the local black market dealer. However, if prices are too high, the black market wins because people are willing to pay more, but only up to a certain point.