Black market remains after Missouri marijuana legalization
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Although marijuana is now legal in Missouri, illegal black market sales continue to happen, along with the dangers of street-level drug dealing.
Over the weekend the Boone County Sheriff's Office reported a man was shot multiple times during an apparent marijuana deal gone bad.
The shooting happened in the 700 block of Demaret Drive early Saturday.
"Our colleagues in Colorado, we've found there's so many rules and regulations and it's still cheaper to purchase it on the black market," Capt. Brian Leer with the Boone County Sheriff's Office told ABC 17
News in an interview last week. They haven't seen crime go down, impaired driving goes up. So that's kind of what we found when we talked to our colleagues in other states that have gone down this path."
According to the Chief Operating Officer for Shangri-La, a dispensary found in Jefferson City and Columbia, there are certain things in place to keep consumers safe and in the know about the products being consumed.
"The big difference between the black market and the legal side is I can provide a lab result with all testing," Michael Lafrieda said. "What the product was tested, how it was tested and what results came back. So everybody would be upfront and we can provide that information so you know immediately what's in that product."
Lafrieda said any licensed dispensary should be able to provide you with those lab tests, unlike street dealers. According to him, getting product from a licensed dispensary is the only true way of knowing what's inside.
A seed-to-sale system is in place in Missouri, tracking products from the moment they're planted until sold. The state has contracted with a system called Metric, which is in charge of the tracking.
Lafrieda said with harder drugs on the street with a potential to lace marijuana products, Metric gives consumers the opportunity to know what's being ingested.
According to an article published in Politico, with legalization in New York, cannabis can be found in many places that don't fall under the classification of a regulated dispensary.
According to the article, these illegal shops can operate and sell product much cheaper than a licensed dispensary. They do not need to pay taxes and licensing fees and often receive products from out-of-state.
According to the article, California's black market undermined its own legal market. Things like taxes, competition from the black market and local governments opposing the legalization all led to a lack of success in the legal cannabis industry in California.
And street deals remain commonplace in states where recreational marijuana is legal.
