There are a lot of other places where people are debating merits and failures of the MMPR, which I am following with great interest. So if the comments about diversion and prescriptions etc. are meant to stir the pot and put down aspiring legal growers, maybe there are better places to start that debate!
I do not intend to allow any product to go to the black market. If I did, I would not jump through regulatory hoops and make an effort to do a full-fledged legal business. I see this crop as a valuable, and profitable one, which can help people and make me a living. My background is in food crops and greenhouses, not black market grow ops, and from where I stand this is a good business.
Medical MJ should not be the $10/g that the local club charges, neither should it be $8.80...the price *should* ultimately reflect the cost of production, and a free market, just like any other crop. The more legal growers we have in healthy competition and the more progressive society gets about MMJ, benefits, prescriptions, the more affordable it will be. But it will not be an overnight revolution that is $1/gram outdoor free grown utopia, unfortunately. It will be small steps, hard work, and risk taken on by entrepreneurs that are willing to try it out.
Why anyone would think that there won't be any market for $8.80/g is beyond me...when there are loads of dispensaries and black market dealers that are the current suppliers. Many buyers will see an advantage to purchasing product that is regulated for quality, contaminants, and ingredients to the same extent as commercial drugs, and that is legally obtainable.
Obviously after expenses, security, taxes, your average licensed producer will be making far less profit than a black market dealer, and many grey-market dispensaries. I really hope that we don't end up with a situation where the political types are putting down the LPs that are trying to be successful in this situation. No one feels this is perfect, every LP would be able to make more money illegally if they wanted to, so give it a chance to work and at least a whole lot of people will have access that did not before. Not all patients are well connected in underground circles, many will be hugely relieved to have a legal supply outside of HC, for quality and clean product.