Colorado Weed Prices

Posted by CANNASaver on Tuesday, 24 November 2020 in Canna Blog - Latest News

Your Guide to 2021 Colorado Weed Prices  

As of 2020, Colorado is closer to a decade of recreational marijuana being legal than a modern preschooler is to third grade. While it’s been a ride, the laws governing cannabis sales in the state evolve every year. One of the factors that influence these legal changes? The average price of weed in Colorado. 

Colorado weed prices affect how much tax is collected. Legal weed prices also aid in reducing black market activity around cannabis, so long as they are low enough to prevent those selling it from being able to reliably turn a profit. 

That’s why we created this guide – to describe how much weed in Colorado is, how much it differs across the state and why. Let’s dive in.

Creating A Consumer Methodology for Determining The Price Of Weed in Colorado

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, in October 2020 the average price per pound of flower for growers to dispensaries was ~$1300. 

Put another way, growers on average charge dispensaries the following:

• $81.25 per ounce

• $10.15 per ⅛ ounce

• $2.88 per gram

Once dispensaries have received the flower, the price doubles or triples before reaching the buyer. This is the result of paying employees, renting property, buying equipment, and other business operation expenses. 

In order to create a methodology that captures the consumer-end price, we’ve added 200-300 percent to the AMR price the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division uses for taxation. 

The Result?

Average Price Per Ounce in Colorado for Recreational Consumers: ~ $160 - $240 

Average Price Per 1/8 Ounce in Colorado for Recreational Consumers: ~ $20 - $30

Average Price Per Gram in Colorado for Recreational Consumers: ~ $5.76 - $8.64

We will use these as benchmarks in the analysis below. 

Determining Colorado Weed Prices

Prices of cannabis in Colorado vary based on brand, region, current specials, and dozens of other factors.

Built within this is a feedback loop for the state and cannabis producers and dispensaries. 

Once every three months, the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, known as Colorado MED, uses data from grower to manufacturer (like an edible producer) or seller (such as a dispensary) to determine an Average Market Rate (AMR). The AMR is the basis for taxes and is reviewed based on weight. 

In the chart below, available on the Colorado Department of Revenue website, you can see that growers of marijuana in Colorado, on average, charge ~$1,300 per pound in October 2020. This is up 30 percent from ~$1,000 in October 2019. This is important for later.

(Pulled from CO DOR 11/25/2020)

Why The Average Market Rate Matters

Roughly speaking, by the time cannabis gets to the consumer the price per pound is double or more than the AMR (average market rate). This is in part because manufacturers and dispensaries have to pay staff, labor, as well as equipment, and licensing. 

The other part? 

Colorado marijuana laws place limits on both recreational consumers and medical marijuana patients.

Consumers can’t easily go out and buy a pound since the law limits recreational to an ounce, or 1/16th of a pound.

In the decades where cannabis was illegal entirely when a police raid created headlines like “$1 Million in Marijuana Confiscated”, it was an average market rate that allowed this headline to make sense. Police would use average street prices to evaluate the worth of a quantity. This applies equally to legal markets. 

How Much Is Weed In Colorado? 

As of October 2020, Colorado MED pulls together purchase information from a total of 466 cultivators, 216 product manufacturers, and 416 medical or recreational stores as part of creating the AMR. When retail mark-up is added, our methodology will give us a standard price. 

To remind you, we are using the following as baseline pricing:

• Average Price Per Ounce for Recreational Consumers: ~ $160 - $240 

• Average Price Per 1/8 Ounce for Recreational Consumers: ~ $20 - $30

• Average Price Per Gram for Recreational Consumers: ~ $5.76 - $8.64

Now let’s test these price estimates on some cannabis dispensaries in Colorado: 

Botanico (Denver)

Strain: Crystal Gelato

Prices: $20 per 1/8th, $160 per ounce

Strain: Bazookies

Price: $140 per ounce

Check Out Botanico Cannabis Deals Here: 

• Botanico

• Botanico 2

Medicine Man (Longmont)

Strain: Cookies N’ Cream

Prices: $19 per 1/8th, $114 per ounce

Strain: G6 #3

Prices: $19 per 1/8th, $114 per ounce

Check Out Medicine Man Deals Here:

• Medicine Man Denver

• Medicine Man Longmont

• Medicine Man Aurora

• Medicine Man Thorton

Organix (Breckenridge)

Strain: GG #4

Price: $15 per gram, $32 per 1/8th, $155 per ounce

Check Out Organix Deals Here:

• Organix Breckenridge

The Lodge (RiNo Denver)

Strain: Sour Chunk

Price: $13 per gram, $32 per 1/8th, $150 per ounce

Check Out The Lodge Deals Here:

• The Lodge - Federal BLVD

• The Lodge - High Street

What Is The Average Price Per Gram In Colorado? 

The above pricing samples and our baseline costs tell us a few things about weed prices in Colorado. We estimated the average cost per gram, based on Colorado DOR data, to be between ~$6 to $9. However, from our sample, we can see that the average cost per gram is much more.

The average cost per gram of weed in Colorado is between $10-$15. 

This is likely because, as with most things, weed is cheaper when bought in bulk. 

What Is The Average Price Of An 1/8th In Colorado? 

We estimated based on available data from the state of Colorado the average price per 1/8th would be between $20 and $30 dollars. Botanico was on the lower end of our estimated range at $20 per 1/8th. Medicine Man was $19 per 1/8th or $1 less than the estimated low.

Both Organix and The Lodge dispensaries show up at the higher end of our estimated price range, but only by a little. Both have an average price per 1/8th of $32, or $2 more than our $30 high estimate. 

What Is The Average Price Of An Ounce In Colorado? 

The methodology for estimating Colorado weed prices we established actually overestimated the price per ounce on nearly every count. Our methodology puts the average price per ounce at between $160 and $240. 

Every dispensary fell at or below our benchmark of $160. Again, buying in bulk will always lower the price – with anything from soap to marijuana.

How To Smoke Out Of An Apple

Posted by CANNASaver on Wednesday, 18 November 2020 in Canna Blog - Latest News

You’ve reached the end of a long day. You finally sit down to enjoy some much-needed cannabis when you remember your only smoking utensil was broken by your clumsy friend the night before!

Or, you find yourself on a camping trip and you've brought all of your smoking needs, like a lighter, flower, even a poker, but you forgot your pipe!

With no papers in sight, you're left with two options: an apple that you had or a soda can.

But how does one smoke out of an apple?

It’s about now when high school nostalgia kicks in. You know how to make the perfect can pipe. You think of all the fun times in which you started with a soda can pipe. How can you resist? But then something more practical waves over you. Is aluminum the best choice to smoke from? Anyone who has ever thrown a soda can into a campfire knows how nasty the fumes from aluminum are. Aluminum vapors are known to cause various health problems and are not environmentally friendly as they emit these awful vapors and sit on earth for entirely too long.

Now that all that high school nostalgia has worn off, it’s a no-brainer.

Apple pipe it is!

The Early Days of Smoking Out of An Apple

Back in the day, a few high schoolers got creative and used their lunches to make pipes. With their apples being the most sturdy opinion in their lunchboxes for this beautiful revolution. Another huge bonus – they could get rid of the evidence by either eating them after or throwing away. It’s a completely organic way to enjoy cannabis without the worry of aluminum residue.

Benefits of Smoking Out of An Apple

Taste

One of the main benefits is that it doesn't leave a terrible taste in your mouth. It (surprisingly) has an apple aftertaste! Not to mention it gives you the ability to taste the cannabis with all the terpenes involved, as the apple filters out a lot of the foul smoke taste. The apple doesn’t necessarily change the cannabis flavor but complements it. The best part – no metal taste! 

Healthy

Knowing you’re not inhaling the fumes, even better! Aluminum vapors are known to house carcinogens of all sorts. With the apple degrading gracefully in nature, you’re feeling healthy and environmentally friendly. By smoking out of an apple, you're not contributing to the ever-growing trash problem we're dealing with. The apple pipe is a stoner’s handbook must.

But isn’t it a huge pain to make?

Not even a little bit!

Plus, you’ll be able to rejoice in the product you made by hand – and feel good about it being all-natural. 

It’s about time to teach you how to smoke out of an apple.

How To Smoke Out of An Apple

Tools needed to make your own apple pipe: 

• Hollowed-out pen (pen outer lining)
• Toothpicks (or a poker of some sort)
• And, of course, the apple

If you don't have a pen and/or toothpicks handy, you can improvise by finding a strong stick, with about a half-inch diameter. To substitute the toothpicks, try and find smaller, thinner-yet-stronger sticks than the one you'll use in lieu of the pen.

7 steps to a fully functioning apple pipe:

1. Remove the stem for the top of the apple. Use fingers to twist or pull off.

2. Use toothpicks to deepen the hole left by the stem. Dig hole until it extends about halfway through the apple. This will form a downstem.

3. Use the pen to carve out a hollow shape on the top of the apple.

4. Poke 5-8 toothpick holes around the stem area (this will act as the bowl). No aluminum foil needed!

5. Insert the pen (or stick you found) and poke a hole that will meet with the downstem. If shoving the pen doesn’t work, twist the pen until it connects to the stem hole. Push the pen until the tunnel connects with the downstem.

6. After making the mouth hole, you may want to add a carb. Follow the previous step wherever you feel like placing the carb. Think ahead about how it will all connect.

7. Take your cannabis and fill the bowl. Light the wonderful herbals and enjoy your creation!

When you're left without a pipe, papers, or standard smoking utensils, you should now know how to smoke out of an apple. You will have a perfectly functional pipe in just 7 easy steps. Easily disposable and also edible, apple pipes are a healthy way to get by in a pinch. The pipe is really only recommended for a day tops before the apple will start falling apart or oxidizing, so it's just a great temporary option.

If you find yourself needing some good buds to put in your awesome, kick-butt pipe, check out our marijuana deals page for a breakdown of the best dispensary deals to get you properly lifted and feeling great!

There you have it - an apple pipe to smoke cannabis out of. Now, there's one way you can embrace the saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” 

How Legal Weed in California Could Lead to Better Buds for All by Melanie Marquis

Posted by CANNASaver on Saturday, 21 November 2015 in Canna Blog - Latest News

If successful, the California Craft Cannabis Initiative could lead to better quality cannabis in California and beyond. Drafted by lawyers Heather Burke and Omar Figueroa, the initiative is one of a large handful of recreational marijuana legalization measures vying to make it onto the November 2016 statewide ballot. In addition to retroactively legalizing the use, cultivation, possession, transportation, processing, distribution, and sale of marijuana by persons 21 years of age and older, the initiative would establish a seed bank dedicated to the preservation and development of cannabis strains, and would also provide incentives to encourage small-scale growers to produce top-quality weed. We've all heard of craft beers, but have you ever heard of craft cannabis? The concept is the same whether we're talking beer or buds. Small-scale, focused production allows artisans the opportunity to create unique, unusual, or specialty products of often exceptional quality. If California's Craft Cannabis Initiative passes, craft cannabis growers could actually register and trademark their buds. For instance, their would likely be regional designations such as “Humboldt County” or “Emerald Triangle,” as well as certified strains.

What this would mean for the average California cannabis consumer is that what you pay for is what you get, at least when purchasing a certified or trademark-registered product. Seems like a simple enough consumer expectation, but this isn't always the case in legal recreational cannabis states like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington where strains are often misnamed, ill grown, and poorly preserved in the mass-production frenzy of trying to meet an ever-rising demand. No means for certifying any particular strains of marijuana exist in these states, which basically results in anyone being able to call their buds anything they like and sell them under any name they choose, and consumers having nothing other than their own eyes, nose, and knowledge of cannabis to help them tell the difference. That Lemon Haze might be Lemon Haze, or it might not. That “rare” strain whose name you've never heard of before could be good old Blue Dream with a fancy new alias. If the initiative in California passes and other states decide to adopt their own certification mechanisms, consumers would be able to tell exactly what they were getting, and growers would have an incentive to protect their strains and develop them to their fullest potential.

The California Craft Cannabis Initiative would also provide an opportunity for growers to have their crops certified organic. This is something none of the legal marijuana states currently offer, which again leaves the consumer with little but their own judgment and the shopkeeper's word to go on when hoping to purchase organically-grown cannabis. As it stands, much of the marijuana sold at dispensaries is coated with pesticides and often contains fungus or heavy metals. It might say “organic,” but there isn't really any way of knowing whether or not it actually is. The California Craft Cannabis Initiative would make it possible for consumers to choose products that are certified organic, which could encourage other legal weed states to follow suit.

The initiative also calls for the establishment of the California Cannabis Genetic Repository. The repository would collect germplasm from all known cannabis strains, carefully preserving and documenting the biodiversity of the cannabis genus. Researchers and others wishing to study the cannabis plant would have free access to the repository, which could lead to the development of strains with higher potency, new hybrids, and more. As the nation's herb supply continues to be flooded with mislabeled or wrongly identified strains, preserving the genetics of specific cannabis strains becomes increasingly important not just for California, but for the world. The sponsors of the California Craft Cannabis Initiative have until December 21st to collect the 365,880 signatures required to get the measure placed on next November's ballot. There are at least ten other recreational cannabis legalization initiatives that are in the process of meeting requirements to make it on the ballot, as well. For more information including the full text of the California Craft Cannabis Initiative, visit www.californiacannabis2016.com .