Don't worry about prices: people prefer to buy legal pot, Seattle attorney says

An attorney with the City of Seattle has advice for Canada about getting the balance right on legalized recreational pot prices: sell it, and they will come.

The Canadian Press reported concerns from a leaked federal discussion paper that organized crime is likely to continue its involvement in recreational pot once it is legalized, and a C.D. Howe report noted "The challenge for policymakers is to set tax rates that do not foster an illicit market alongside legal sales."

"What the governments, federal and provincial, should be very cognizant of is not to go forward with the idea of reaping significant tax revenue," agreed University of Waterloo professor Anindya Sen.

"We don't want a situation where tax rates are very high and is an incentive to have a black market."

• Deadline looms for 100-plus pot shops while 100s more line up to open
• Legalizing pot won't snuff out organized crime, report warns
• Federal marijuana legislation to be introduced in spring 2017, Philpott says

Legal pot sold well at $80/gram, says attorney

Peter Holmes, who helped oversee the establishment of Seattle's recreational pot shops, says concerns about the higher cost of taxed pot providing an opening for organized crime to continue its involvement did not materialize in Washington State.

"When our first stores opened, we had two in the city of Seattle," he told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

"Not surprisingly, the price at the legal stores was quite high, something like $80 a gram, and yet, they sold everything they could get their hands on. People were very excited for the opportunity to go to a nice, clean, well-lit, sanitary, regulated place, and they could not keep it on the shelves."

Access needs to grow to stamp out black market

Holmes said the high price was more a function of supply and demand than taxation: "the producers, processors, were charging what the market would bear," he said.

Holmes says the legal market began to seriously cut into the black market as the regulatory system became "mature" in the state.

However, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board says the illegal market still makes up 28 percent of the marijuana market, while the grey market makes up 37 percent, despite the price of legal pot going down to $9 or $10 a gram.

"It's purely a function of accessibility," Holmes said. "We are shooting for 400 stores across the state we're still not at full capacity."

"I think that we have seen that when the stores are open and they have the product, they do quite nicely, and that's where people clearly want to go. That's where they want to make the purchases."

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast

To hear the full story, click the audio labelled:Don't sweat the green being charged when it comes to selling green, says Seattle attorney