The marijuana gold rush in Colorado has created as much controversy as it has new business and tax revenue. Concerns about increased homelessness caused by marijuana use proved true over the summer; however, the stats relate to people who have traveled to Colorado from other states. The high cost of legal marijuana and an almost 25 percent tax rate makes it an expensive hobby for visitors with few resources.Some of the recent transplants are transient youth. The Denver Postís Tom McGhee reported July 25 that homeless shelters in Denver are citing ìtraveling to Colorado for access to legal marijuanaî as the reason 25 percent of new youth seeking homeless assistance have come to the state.Visitors are discovering that legal recreational and medical marijuana doesnít mean cheap marijuana. Walt Hickey of fivethirtyeight.com reported April 29 that, while prices are decreasing after the initial high prices for recreational marijuana after legalization, Colorado recreational prices average between $7 and $8.50 per gram. According to a RAND Corp. study in 2013, people who classified themselves as ìdaily usersî of marijuana smoked or otherwise consumed an average of 3.9 joints per day, which the study determined was about a half gram per joint. It all results in a $17 per-day average cost of the habit, not including wrappers and other paraphernalia.The prices do not include the taxes on recreational marijuana that support school building and state public health iniatives. About 28 percent in local, state and excise taxes bring the total cost to more than $21 per day.Black market marijuana prices are not published by their sellers for obvious reasons. Time Magazineís Jacob Davidson reported July 8 that two Denver residents ìwith knowledge of street prices say contraband pot tends to range from about $160 to about $300 per ounce.î At about 28.3 grams to an ounce that hypothetical daily user would be spending about $11 per day on the low end of the illegal market price range. A half-price sale on marijuana by using the corner dealer instead of a Denver or Pueblo dispensary could be tempting for some consumers.
