The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

[LazyBoy]

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/product...oft-marijuana/

But now that marijuana will soon become legal in Washington state, the former Microsoft product manager has big dreams of entering the retail marjiuana business. The blog Toke of the Town even wonders if he’ll become “the Bill Gates of bud.”

He plans on selling premium, high-end marijuana. Think of it has a liquor store selling fine cognac and brandy, not Natty Ice and Bud Light.

[DSpencer]

Re: The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/product...oft-marijuana/

I'm sure he's the only person that plans on selling high-end marijuana...

How does one utilize this law that allows an adult to possess up to 1 oz of marijuana to run a distribution business? JIT inventory to the extreme???

Barring a Monsanto strategy I fail to see how he will become "the Bill Gates of bud".

[lakedaemonian]

Re: The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

I'm sure he's the only person that plans on selling high-end marijuana...

How does one utilize this law that allows an adult to possess up to 1 oz of marijuana to run a distribution business? JIT inventory to the extreme???

Barring a Monsanto strategy I fail to see how he will become "the Bill Gates of bud".

Without knowing the first thing about it, I simply assume it will be much like any other controlled/regulated activity or product.......

Hire some lobbyists to buy yourself into a monopoly or near monopoly...or if it becomes a libertarian free for all(which is surely will not)......hire lobbyists to buy a big moat of zoning/licensing/bureaucracy hurdles around your particular marijuana business.

Or if it does turn out to be a level playing field(which I doubt), then it would come down to product/marketing/business model differentiation.

[GRG55]

Re: The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

I'm sure he's the only person that plans on selling high-end marijuana...

How does one utilize this law that allows an adult to possess up to 1 oz of marijuana to run a distribution business? JIT inventory to the extreme???

Barring a Monsanto strategy I fail to see how he will become "the Bill Gates of bud".

The profits are usually much richer in an illegal activity (think bootleggers during Prohibition)...albeit the risks are higher as well. Once it's legalized, and given there appear to be few barriers to entry (pretty well anybody can do a grow-op in the Pacific NW or B.C., Canada) I would think the competition will beat down prices as usually happens. :-)

[lektrode]

Re: The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

The profits are usually much richer in an illegal activity (think bootleggers during Prohibition)...albeit the risks are higher as well. Once it's legalized, and given there appear to be few barriers to entry (pretty well anybody can do a grow-op in the Pacific NW or B.C., Canada) I would think the competition will beat down prices as usually happens. :-)

some history here is instructive on how things might go...

[aaron]

Re: The next Starbucks? The next bubble?

None of the regulations are in place. And, I do not expect them to come. The legislature and governor have no balls to stand up to FEDs. It is all just a pipe dream . They 'have' to do something because it was voted for by the public, but that does not mean they will do anything quickly, or anything that might jeopardize their future as politicians.

They do not arrest people, in general, for marijuana possession here anyway. Now, it just means the people know what they can get away with (up to one ounce). It is a stress reducer, nothing more.

I am very much in support of legalized, regulated marijuana. Growing up, and I am sure things have not changed, it was FAR easier to get smokes than get beer. Marijuana has been shown to adversely affect the developing brain, with permanent effects on IQ and mental health for the rest of your life. A system, like cigarette sales now, would work just fine to keep kids from smoking. I am not sure about other states, but if you sell tobacco to kids here, you will be flogged.

With the proposals put forward, it looks like the price of marijuana will double here in Washington. That will also help keep it out of the hands of teens. People who want the high-end stuff will not care. Addicts will have to cut back or quit.

Overall, I think it would be great. People who like to enjoy a joint or two will have that privilege. People who are abusing it, will have more hurdles ($$) to jump through. It is a very expensive habit. And kids, which really is all we should care about, will also have a much harder time getting it.