Haha, those were west coast prices! Here on the east coast back in the day, $20 an oz was standard for the typical Mexican brick crap.
I'm in upstate too, and just a few years younger than you guys...I'm an old outdoor grower too!
When I was 16 years old, and already on my own, I bought 10 kilos of that crap, for $1,000 here, that my friend brought back from Tucson...Thought I was gonna get rich! The ki's actually only weighed under 2 pounds each as they were so dry, wrapped only in Mexican newspaper...I found a dead bird in one, and a silver spoon in another, and more stems and seeds than I care to remember. The THC level was probably about -1%. It was sooo bad! I did NOT get rich, lol...
Then once in a while some Colombian Gold, or Redbud would come around and we'd all bitch like hell because it was $40 or $45 an oz.
The first really great weed I ever smoked was from Gainesville Florida, called Gainesville Green, around 1975! Of course I didn't know anyone on the west coast back then...unfortunately...but that changed after Vietnam.
Damned I am old!