September 2016 Issue

Legal Weed:
The Grey Market of the
Green Rush
By Mark M. Ward
In regards to the legal cannabis industry
in much of the country, there is still
a seedy market; no pun intended. Initially
the affluent protected their markets from
being made obsolete by cannabis. The
lesser percent have taken the upper hand
from the cartels and they now form the
laws and create regulations. Consequently,
they are the only individuals and “corporations”
that are able to comply with legal
cannabis regulations. Hence the wealthy
control the effects of supply and demand,
and thus the market. Aspiring canna-businessmen and canna-businesswomen are finding that they are forced
to jump through preposterous hoops (regulations, codes, taxes, $$$$), so the average person cannot take part in dispensing,
cultivating or any other facets of the industry.
Most banks will not lend to a cannabis business so the use of “private investing” and older money is prevalent,
“It is ridiculous how impossible it is trying to get bank funding of a canna-business.” -says Scott Bettano, CEO
and Cofounder of Social High, the cannabis social network and app, “Hell we couldn’t even get a bank account on
the east coast.” This can be comparable to how the Mafia, or so called “corporations”, cornered the market with
gambling and casinos in Las Vegas. This is why states such as Rhode Island have law makers trying to tax patients
on each plant they grow, to further isolate the market as they disguise it as reform. This will drive this market solely
into the hands of major corporations or major crime. “When Medical marijuana is over regulated to the point where
the average patient is priced out, we are forcing those who seek it back into the underground market where it is sold
exclusively by those who are willing to break the law. Some of these individuals will also have other products available,
including drugs that are far worse than marijuana.” -Tony Jones, Libertarian Party of RI.
But, how is this currently possible? How is this still happening? It’s been about 80 years since American
newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst built the nation’s largest newspaper chain and paper mills run on
timber, which were threatened by the hemp industry. It’s been the same amount of time since Hearst used his papers
and position as a platform to scare the nation by slandering cannabis with racist propaganda and by calling it by the
J18