Weed farmers are facing their most diabolical threat since hazy, rambling conspiracy theories about the government’s hatred of hemp, with The Wall Street Journal issuing a report today on falling prices in the recreational and medical pot markets. The drop in prices owes, unsurprisingly, to increased saturation in the weed market, now that more and more states are adopting legal pot.
Per the WSJ, the $6 billion cannabis market has seen prices drop by about a third in the last few years, from an average of $15 a gram to $10. The article talks to a number of growers attempting to help their product stand out from the dank glut, a prospect made extra-tricky by the fact that that old marketing stand-by, “organic,” has official meanings defined by the federal government, which still holds that this entire industry is illegal.
Growers are instead using industry labels like “SunGrown Certified” and “Clean Green Certified,” hoping to help their weed stand out from indoor grow outfits, which are generally seen as harder on the environment, thanks to high electricity usage and specialized fertilizers. “The socially conscious, premium customer is going to want us because we’re sustainable,” said one environmentally aware weed grower in Washington, where pot sales have become big business. “It only takes me 30 seconds to convert somebody wearing Patagonia and driving a Prius that they should never smoke indoor weed again.”