Indoor growing demographics: How many of us are there, geographic distribution, auto vs. photo growers, etc.?

[BII]

Not busting a myth, rather asking some questions, some of the answers to which may be myths.

1) How many total and indoor cannabis growers are there worldwide? Any breakdowns by country, US state, etc.?

2) For relevant countries and regions, what is the concentration (%) of growers among cannabis consumers and as a % of the adult pop.?

3) Any data concerning auto vs. other/photo growers? How many autoflower grows or growers are there? Any geographic data?

 

[DCLXVI]

Interesting thoughts. I think the only trouble would be the legal status of things may really skew the data as some probably need to protect their privacy and anonymity.

I mean clearly on here, everyone lives in a legal area and no one is breaking any law. Right? (I mean this jokingly, I realize it reads a bit sarcastic.)

 

[BII]

.....

I mean clearly on here, everyone lives in a legal area and no one is breaking any law. Right? (I mean this jokingly, I realize it reads a bit sarcastic.)

Similarly, surely all AFN discussions about cannabis growing and consumption are fictional role playing, including photos of cannabis being artful fakes. Just another online game. Mostly adult males clearly with lots of idle time acting cool, as if they are actually pot growers. So back to the topic, what are the demographic breakdowns of this fictional activity?

Vendors and comercial/legal growers: What's your view of the market? Surely you have good relevant data, such as you must have in your business plans, market research studies, also stock analyses of publicly traded legal growers, etc..

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Similarly, surely all AFN discussions about cannabis growing and consumption are fictional role playing, including photos of cannabis being artful fakes. Just another online game. Mostly adult males clearly with lots of idle time acting cool, as if they are actually pot growers. So back to the topic, what are the demographic breakdowns of this fictional activity?

Vendors and comercial/legal growers: What's your view of the market? Surely you have good relevant data, such as you must have in your business plans, market research studies, also stock analyses of publicly traded legal growers, etc..

I can tell you that for the first time since Colorado's legalization, there are more dispensaries than there are cultivation licenses that are active. Over the past 3 years, the flower market completely dropped out here, where a pound of indoor grown cannabis used to fetch anywhere from $1000-2000, where now you're lucky if you can get over $200 for the same product by weight. Because they didn't limit the amount of licenses (which is a double edged sword,) a lot of big outdoor farms came in with the mentality of "we don't have to grow great pot, we just have to grow a LOT of pot." And they did. And it wasn't great pot. But they grew a lot of it. lol

The market hit this "flood" of over abundant flower, and suddenly where you used to fetch these big prices for weight, suddenly it get getting pounded down to NOTHING, but most of these companies were operating on the same fat budgets and sloppy practices that were fine to lean on, because up until this point, nothing was really getting in the way of that.

The result was a tremendous amount of licensed facilities going out of business, where it hit both the big guys but primarily shut down the smaller ma-and-pa grows that had the minimum license/flower count. I've heard numerous farm owners say "we just have to wait this out, because everyone will either go out of business or sell their licenses," and that very thing happened. Big farms purchased smaller licenses, and suddenly they became even BIGGER farms, and the small ma-and-pa's just left.

So now we have primarily big farms, ran by multiple shareholders, primarily dominating the Colorado market. Everything everyone speculated about "big pharma" coming into cannabis is right on track. Only those with the money really survived, and craft cannabis is almost a funny joke, because no one is going to pay the coin for your fire when they get "it's not quite as good, but it'll sell on the shelf" buds for pennies on the dollar.

 

[BII]

So in Colorado the legal market is increasingly dominated by larger players, the growers' sales (both legal/taxed and illegal?) collapsed due to State mismanagement (politics?), and it sounds like competition for sales, much less profits, among all growers and dispensaries is intense.

Back to asking about demographics: What are the sizes of the legal/taxed vs. illegal markets in CO (and other areas)? Who is supplying the CO markets? Where legal, have the legal growers and stores out-competed (for ex.,they can advertise, offer far more variety) the individual/unlicensed growers?

How do prices in the CO (and elsewhere) legal vs. illegal markets compare? For ex., what does an ounce of lower 20%-range pot sell for at the consumer level? I presume there are a good number of non-legal home growers/sellers in CO, but does CO and other places where cannabis is legal still have traditional righteous pot dealer networks anymore, or do consumers now buy direct from individual growers?

 

[Grubby]

In Oklahoma, it's been the wild, wild west. Wasn't thought out very well.
There's this:
With the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics estimating half of the nearly 6,300 grow operations are illegal, even Attorney General Drummond is stepping in.

"The Attorney General has decided that his office is going to get into this fight on the illegal stuff and that's going to be a big help," Rep. Fetgatter said.

We see reports every couple of weeks where huge grows are raided, product confiscated, and burned. Always players from outside the U.S.
We're talking tons.

The amount of dispensaries here are crazy. Ounce of shake (good quality for edibles) - 10-15 bucks. It's difficult for the legits to compete.

There is a lot of really good bud here.

I prefer to grow mine. That's why I'm here, though I don't post much.

Enjoy reading all the comments.

Got an L.A. Confidential and an Outlier Z F4 rolling right now. Love photos, but limited space and I'm old. No time to wait and too many strains to fuck with.

 

[BII]

In Oklahoma, it's been the wild, wild west. Wasn't thought out very well.
There's this:
With the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics estimating half of the nearly 6,300 grow operations are illegal, even Attorney General Drummond is stepping in.

"The Attorney General has decided that his office is going to get into this fight on the illegal stuff and that's going to be a big help," Rep. Fetgatter said.

We see reports every couple of weeks where huge grows are raided, product confiscated, and burned. Always players from outside the U.S.
We're talking tons.


There is a lot of really good bud here.

I prefer to grow mine. That's why I'm here, though I don't post much.

Enjoy reading all the comments.

Got an L.A. Confidential and an Outlier Z F4 rolling right now. Love photos, but limited space and I'm old. No time to wait and too many strains to fuck with.

Just guessing, where do most consumers get their buds from now in OK? How is the market split, such as what portions are dispensary sales; go though traditional (still around?) righteous drug dealer networks; individuals growing their own and selling a few ounces; etc.

What went wrong or wasn't thought out well in OK? You cite lots of good cheap pot? Isn't that the ideal outcome (for end-users)? Or are you concerned with individual and/or commercial growers no longer able to make good income; or what?

Are the multi-ton grow operations seen locally as good (cheap pot; supply US national markets; provide jobs; support local economy, etc.) or bad (real criminals, foreign gangs, forced labor, etc.)?

You cite "legits" having difficulty competing on price with dispensaries. Who/what are legits? Aren't the dispensaries and their licensed grower suppliers the "legits?"

 

[Grubby]

Wow. Lots of questions. I have no idea how many people get their bud from traditional dealers- Who would even know that? I would say that due to the amount of available herb, most people can get it from someone that has a medical license. Readily available.
What wasn't well thought out was the amount of licenses available, not only for growers, but dispensaries. I counted 9 dispensaries in a 2 mile stretch on my way to work. Soooo many have come and gone. A lot of the strugglers buy from the illegit grow houses hoping to find an edge to make a profit. Or they buy out "out of the back door." Competition is very fierce, as you may imagine.
Yes, I cited cheap pot. Who doesn't like low prices? I don't buy much because I prefer to grow my own. Some dispensaries have exclusive growers, growing on limited quantities. Boutique if you will.
The illegitimate growers- some are licensed, some have expired licenses, some have none. Some of the licensed "Legit" growers sell out the back door to avoid regulations. As far as perception of multi-grows operations, I don't know. I'm not in the business. Like any business, there's good and bad.
Dude, I'm not a market analyst for the cannabis industry in this state, I'm not a know it all, I'm just a recreational user/grower throwing my 2 cents in.
I learn what I know from talking to dispensaries and reading news articles.
You are welcome to do more research and educate me, if that's your thing.

 

[BII]

The state I'm in, Maryland, just recently fully legalized and tried to do it right. This included as the same time legalizing possession, gifting, expanded commercial growing for recreational use by established medical facilities (with new recreational-only licenses also to be granted); recreational sales by all established medical dispensaries (about 5 within 5 minutes of my home; with more licenses to be granted), and home growing (2 plants at a time for recreational; 4 for registered medical patients). Should I expect local dealer networks to disappear? Or can the non-taxed local individuals selling illegally compete and win vs. the dispensaries, such as have better quality at lower prices?

What becomes the role of home growers when states go legal? Do growers only grow for themselves; with simply no opportunities/markets/demand for them to even sell just a few ounces (or whatever amounts), no options for cost recovery?

 

[Son of Hobbes]

So it sounds like, from what you are familiar with locally, the traditional networks of pot/drug dealers that for decades supplied essentially 100% of the market are gone, dead. history, etc., replaced by an excess of storefront sellers? Or are the drug dealers still around but now selling other drugs, such as psychedelics?

I can't say for the OK market; but in Colorado the black market is quite alive, and quite well. It's not uncommon to fetch a far better price selling on the black market than you'd ever be able to compete with legally/commercially, and the quality is NIGHT AND DAY better than I would wager 90% of storefront pot. There's people all over Colorado looking for homegrown; and if you tell them "why not just go to a dispensary," they make the "crinkle face" of "been there, done that."