More Better Pot

continued

The upgrade hasn't been an unmitigated boon for sellers. Business has "gone up a little bit" since their arrival, says the retailer, but "my revenue hasn't changed a whole lot." Though retail prices have doubled, wholesale prices have gone up even more. "I make a little bit less [now]," the seller says. "I'm not a big expert at retail, but I know enough to know you don't pass along too much of the price increase."

Asked about the high-end pot and its connection to the suppliers of medical marijuana, city attorney Stephen Postema says: "I don't know anything about that, and I don't think about it. We don't prosecute for medical marijuana here, and we haven't for years."

Assistant city attorney Bob West confirms that the situation is nearly the same for non-medical marijuana. He can recall only two times in the last five years that possession of non-medical marijuana has resulted even in a formal court hearing--and then only because the users contested tickets received under the city's lenient marijuana law.   

[Originally published in December, 2012.]