When you take the time to look at what's really going on with the suppliers of medical marijuana these days its no wonder that there is so much political opposition to medical marijuana dispensaries. What is really going on in the medical marijuana supply scene? GREED.

When the people passed Proposition 215, they did so believing that the spirit of the law they were voting for would be followed, and it would mean that seriously ill people would be able to obtain and use a natural medicine to relieve their suffering. They never intended to give rise to huge profit machines that only benefit those with the ability to grow and distribute medical marijuana.

As we look around the State of California, though, we begin to see that the spirit of the law that people so readily supported to help the suffering is falling by the wayside to make room for PROFIT.

Proposition 215 was written to allow people with the ability to grow medical marijuana to grow their own supply of medicine without fear of arrest. The law also intends to allow those persons to grow additional medicinal marijuana for others that are not able to grow it for themselves. The growers are supposed to provide the medical marijuana to those individuals at a price which allows them to recover their operating expenses (and maybe even make a small profit), but it was never intended to give rise to operations where the growers and distributers of the medical marijuana charge over inflated prices to those individuals who can least afford it.

All anyone has to do is look at the prices that are being charged by the medical marijuana growers and distributers in dispensaries all over California. Medical marijuana is averaging $60 for an eighth of an ounce, and there is no way that such prices can be justified without factoring in huge profit margins.

It is so often said that the medical marijuana suppliers of today are simply charging what they have to in order to keep afloat. What doesn't add up is that you can buy marijuana almost anywhere on the streets for around $5 - $10 per eighth ounce while supposedly legitimate providers are charging around $60 for the same amount.

Medical marijuana providers use the excuse that they have a lot of expenses like lighting, utilities, security, etc., and so they have to charge that much to cover their costs of operations. I ask you though… Who actually has the greater operating expenses; those who grow legally or those who grow illegally?

Medical marijuana providers no longer have to hide in the shadows to produce their product; they can grow it freely and they can organize in public storefronts and can advertise openly if they so choose. Shouldn't their operating expenses be quite a bit lower than those for the illegal growers who still have to hide their operations and activities in order to avoid arrest and prosecution, and that loose so much of their crops every year to police raids?

That brings us to wonder again why legitimate medical marijuana providers are charging six times or more what illegal growers are. There is one answer that keeps rearing its ugly head; GREED.

Here is one of the more interesting comments that has appeared on this DRCNet Blog post:

A friend of a friend of mine decided to figure it out himself... using four 600 watt HPS lights covering 14 plants grown in organic soil pots, he ended up with 2.5 pounds of very good quality smoke after 100 days, with the ability to replicate this 3.5 times per year. Adding up the costs for a single harvest, not including the initial purchase of lighting equipment, which would include electricity used (14 hours per day average at 15 cents per kilowatt hour), water used, cost of pots (reusable), potting mix, and fertilizer... his total cost for 2.5 pounds was $654.00.

Or $261.60 per pound. Or $16.35 per ounce, cost. If he were to sell at a wholesale of $4400.00 per pound, his gross is $11,000.00. If he were to sell retail at $400.00 per ounce, his gross is $16,000.00. Minus $654.00 equals a nice net either way. The initial purchase price for the lighting equipment is between $1200 and $1500.00 and can be used for 10 to 15 years with only bulbs to replace every 2 years.

This friend of a friend wasn't a novice grower, but doesn't consider himself a "professional" by any stretch of the imagination. So at a middle of the road cost of $16.35 per ounce, the authors gripe seems to be justified, especially when viewed in the true sense of "compassion". Obviously, medical marijuana isn't covered by prescription coverage or health care plans, so I personally think a more than fair price that shows compassion, taking into account the minimal cost to grow (and adding administrative and overhead costs), would be in the $100.00 to $150.00 an ounce range.