Big money, big noise: medical marijuana profits and controversy

[Medical Marijuana]

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, DEA spokesperson Sarah Pullen admitted that the DEA chose which Los Angeles dispensaries it would attack in January by focusing on “clinics that were making big money.” Pullen said, “It’s become something we can’t ignore.”

This is a stunning admission.


The Storm Troopers

Since when has the DEA taken an interest in curbing profit margins?

And now that the DEA is cracking down on “big money” in medical clinics and medicine distribution, will it pursue the biggest money of all?

In 2005:

CEO Henry A. McKinnell pulled in $16.4 million from Pfizer.

CEO Miles D. White of Abbott Labs made $14.5 million.

CEO Peter R. Dolan cleared $9.9 million from Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

Are these compassionate salaries? Aren’t these people supposed to be providing help to the sick and the dying?

What about all the recreational profit?

Erection drugs alone made over $2.5 billion last year. And the new marketing strategy to grow this number is to go after younger men. Isn’t this an abuse of the medical system for pleasure and profit? Will the DEA pursue this?

As of today, none of these companies have been raided.

How totally ridiculous for the DEA to justify raiding health clinics with machine guns because they thought the owners might be making too much money. The reasoning is so obviously flawed that it might almost seem rushed.

The DEA began beating the drum about dispensary profits immediately after a memo leaked from the US Department of Justice. It was drafted by Department of Justice attorney Thomas M. Kent. In the memo, Kent exposed how DEA agents in Bogotá assisted narco-traffickers, engaged in money laundering, and conspired to murder informants.

Kent’s memo also alleges that investigations into the alleged corruption carried out by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility were derailed and whitewashed by officials within those watchdog agencies.

The memo leaked on January 9, 2007.

Nine days later the DEA hit Los Angeles.

You read about the raids; did you see much about the DEA running cocaine and assassinating people? If you answered no, then it worked. This was never about excess profit. It was intended, in part, to turn Bogotá into “old news.”


The Whiners

As silly as it is for the DEA to pretend to exercise its authority on the basis of profits, the whining from within the medical marijuana community is even sillier.

Go on any dispensary forum or review site and you can read medical patients evaluating the “compassion” of their provider based on the patient’s guess at profit margins. It is embarrassing.

The comments range from the mellow “This dispensary isn’t very compassionate,” to the more angered reviews of compassion. Get a grip, people.

Profits at medical marijuana facilities are the result of basic economics. And when federal agents make supply a more dangerous business, the cost of taking that risk (the profit) goes up.

If the DEA were really troubled by the high profit margins at marijuana facilities, there would be a simple solution. The DEA could either fuck off and let competition take place in California, or regulate and tax marijuana nationwide for all adults. Either way, the laws of economics would drive profit margins and price down.

But it is the patients who cry onto their keyboards because an eighth of the world’s finest cannabis is $5 more than they think it should be that really need to be spanked.

To be clear: patients with the most serious diseases often get free medical cannabis. This is a policy at many dispensaries.

Those of us with less debilitating ailments must compensate for those folks, as well as the risk taken by the people running the facility. Not to mention that the dispensary owners have to buy their herbs from the growers, who are almost always left out of discussions about price.

Anyone who truly believes that medical marijuana should be offered at very low profit margins has a golden opportunity to corner the market. The reason nobody is taking this opportunity is because medical marijuana is a risky game.

The Caregivers

The feds want to kick their doors in.
The customers want them to risk prison for low wages.

We should be thankful that they are on the frontlines and taking a risk to provide for their patients as well as their families. Or we should show them how to run a dispensary.

But please do not troll the Internet crying about the prices of eighths.

You sound like a DEA agent.

[Boss]

Everyone should read this :-)

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Smokin *****

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, DEA spokesperson Sarah Pullen admitted that the DEA chose which Los Angeles dispensaries it would attack in January by focusing on “clinics that were making big money.” Pullen said, “It’s become something we can’t ignore.”

This is a stunning admission.


The Storm Troopers

Since when has the DEA taken an interest in curbing profit margins?

And now that the DEA is cracking down on “big money” in medical clinics and medicine distribution, will it pursue the biggest money of all?

In 2005:

CEO Henry A. McKinnell pulled in $16.4 million from Pfizer.

CEO Miles D. White of Abbott Labs made $14.5 million.

CEO Peter R. Dolan cleared $9.9 million from Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

Are these compassionate salaries? Aren’t these people supposed to be providing help to the sick and the dying?

What about all the recreational profit?

Erection drugs alone made over $2.5 billion last year. And the new marketing strategy to grow this number is to go after younger men. Isn’t this an abuse of the medical system for pleasure and profit? Will the DEA pursue this?

As of today, none of these companies have been raided.

How totally ridiculous for the DEA to justify raiding health clinics with machine guns because they thought the owners might be making too much money. The reasoning is so obviously flawed that it might almost seem rushed.

The DEA began beating the drum about dispensary profits immediately after a memo leaked from the US Department of Justice. It was drafted by Department of Justice attorney Thomas M. Kent. In the memo, Kent exposed how DEA agents in Bogotá assisted narco-traffickers, engaged in money laundering, and conspired to murder informants.

Kent’s memo also alleges that investigations into the alleged corruption carried out by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility were derailed and whitewashed by officials within those watchdog agencies.

The memo leaked on January 9, 2007.

Nine days later the DEA hit Los Angeles.

You read about the raids; did you see much about the DEA running cocaine and assassinating people? If you answered no, then it worked. This was never about excess profit. It was intended, in part, to turn Bogotá into “old news.”


The Whiners

As silly as it is for the DEA to pretend to exercise its authority on the basis of profits, the whining from within the medical marijuana community is even sillier.

Go on any dispensary forum or review site and you can read medical patients evaluating the “compassion” of their provider based on the patient’s guess at profit margins. It is embarrassing.

The comments range from the mellow “This dispensary isn’t very compassionate,” to the more angered reviews of compassion. Get a grip, people.

Profits at medical marijuana facilities are the result of basic economics. And when federal agents make supply a more dangerous business, the cost of taking that risk (the profit) goes up.

If the DEA were really troubled by the high profit margins at marijuana facilities, there would be a simple solution. The DEA could either fuck off and let competition take place in California, or regulate and tax marijuana nationwide for all adults. Either way, the laws of economics would drive profit margins and price down.

But it is the patients who cry onto their keyboards because an eighth of the world’s finest cannabis is $5 more than they think it should be that really need to be spanked.

To be clear: patients with the most serious diseases often get free medical cannabis. This is a policy at many dispensaries.

Those of us with less debilitating ailments must compensate for those folks, as well as the risk taken by the people running the facility. Not to mention that the dispensary owners have to buy their herbs from the growers, who are almost always left out of discussions about price.

Anyone who truly believes that medical marijuana should be offered at very low profit margins has a golden opportunity to corner the market. The reason nobody is taking this opportunity is because medical marijuana is a risky game.

The Caregivers

The feds want to kick their doors in.
The customers want them to risk prison for low wages.

We should be thankful that they are on the frontlines and taking a risk to provide for their patients as well as their families. Or we should show them how to run a dispensary.

But please do not troll the Internet crying about the prices of eighths.

You sound like a DEA agent.

Thank you for someone sticking up for us. I've had two burglaries at The Greenhouse in 3 months. Forget about what they got. How about having to pay for 4 new doors, windows, locks that they broke getting in. TWICE.
I now have to pay more to upgrade our security even more!

[Boss]

I recommend dogs and black widows :-)

[MsRedEye]

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, DEA spokesperson Sarah Pullen admitted that the DEA chose which Los Angeles dispensaries it would attack in January by focusing on “clinics that were making big money.” Pullen said, “It’s become something we can’t ignore.”

This is a stunning admission.

Really, this isn't a shocker. They are going after the biggest moneymakers to line their own pockets...think RICO. "Justice"-For-Profit is indeed a scary thing....

Welcome to the board Jbmagic. Sorry to hear of your troubles with burglaries. I'm sure you'll find support and warmth here.

Peace

[Boss]

That's a good point too, the more money they get from a bust, the less money they ask taxpayers for, and the better they look coming appropriations day..

From what I have been reading, the DEA has been taking EVERYTHING from people during these raids. The house, cars, all accounts, TV's, EVERYTHING they own, and some things they don't even have sole ownership in. Now if it's a huge drug cartel, dealing in all forms of illegal substances, I would agree to the policy to some extent, but placing every person that is raided under this law is Nazi like.

[MsRedEye]

Yep, with half the country out of work and not paying taxes these days, they gotta take their money where they can find it....

Peace

[Paladin]

The whole steaming pile known as the federal government is totaly corrupt , if not criminal. .......The only difference between the Mafia and the federal gov is ....size .

[ZedRules]

Good rant about COOP's dilemas and costs with the threat of the DEA. I see a lot of these "Clinics"/COOP's" crop up all over my area and please don't feed me that crap about all of them are in it for the compassion. I've seen their cars and I know one Clinic that uses a Visa/MC terminal to accomodate higher perchases...I went to use a credit card one evening and they refused because they reached their $100,000 limit imposed by the credit card company...THAT'S JUST ONE DAYS WORTH, excluding cash. The DEA raided several COOPs last year without that kind of daily income. No one is pleading for another person to put it all on the line to be a COOP owner for the sake of compassion. Yes I am grateful for those who truly put it on the line to help patients in need...I would stand beside them in a protest or court. The fact that many are out for profit is beared in my experinces W. Hollywood to LA to Gardena, Torrance & Carson. No one is obligated to pay high prices, but the alternative source use is the street dealer and I'm 51 and don't want to risk it on the street.:smoke2:

[Boss]

*****, Rob, everyone, lets open a national chain called Canna-Pharma. We will run it like a pharmacy. Bullet proof glass, a cage for the holding area, dye bombs for thiefs, Good stuff :-)

[420]

if i could figure out a way to open one without fear of losing 420 Magazine, i would...
you can either create cannabis awareness or run a co-op...
try to do both and they will shut you down in a heart beat...
we will create enough cannabis awareness to change these laws, THEN we open the best chain of co-ops on the planet!

[Boss]

Man, I can see it.. Warehouse grow rooms, producing only the finest quality medical grade Cannabis on the planet, ship fresh direct to only Canna-Pharma stores :-)

I better stop hitting this bong for a few :-)

[MsRedEye]

I'd like to submit my application to work in the Quality Control Department at Canna-Pharma. :smoke2:

Peace

[ViCiOsO]

Originally Posted by MsRedEye

I'd like to submit my application to work in the Quality Control Department at Canna-Pharma. :smoke2:

Peace

As long as I don't have to piss in a cup, I'm in too

[MsRedEye]

As long as I don't have to piss in a cup, I'm in too

Oh there will be a test alright. Gotta make sure you're "qualified" for the job.... :smoke2:

Peace