How Much Does Medical Marijuana Cost
Medical marijuana has been debated time and time again, and now that the use of it has been approved in some states, it is still interesting to note some disconnect between the patients and their health care plans. Many insurance companies do not want to cover medical marijuana costs. Payment for acquiring it is coming from out of the pocket of those who needed to use it as prescribed by their doctors. Luckily for many patients, the cost of medical marijuana is not very expensive, depending on where you live, its potency, your supplier, and the cannabis strain.
Medical marijuana price varies from state to state. Let’s tackle how much does medical marijuana cost for a bit and see where we can get comprehensive information based on available online resources.
Marijuana Cost
Legality used to be the main issue regarding marijuana use, but not anymore. Its legalization happened during the time when some states in the country were financially struggling. There was even a debate that pot can be taxed to help with the budget deficits and it became one of the strong argument for the marijuana’s legalization. So, how much does medical marijuana cost? According to the Medicinal Marijuana Association, a very high grade cannabis is at a cost of $60 dollars per gram. On average, an illegal marijuana is at the price of around $8 to $20 per gram, but for the non-organic legal government marijuana, the cost is around $15 dollars per gram. As for a cannabis that is private and organic, it is $10 dollars per gram.
In other countries like Uruguay, marijuana sells for $1 dollar per gram, competitive isn’t it? But it is because the country has already legalized the use of it. Canada is also joining the bandwagon of legal medical marijuana, the cost of medical marijuana there is in between $3 to $12 dollars per gram while those who grow cannabis, is $0.50 cents and $2 per gram.
Marijuana As A Plant
In order to be qualified to be a supplier for marijuana, you have to also be a licensed producer for it. In Canada, CanniMed has been a licensed producer for medical marijuana under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulation. They have been growing medical cannabis since 2013 and they also accept registration to patients needing medical marijuana as their treatment for their ailments.
In the US, geographically, it is illegal to plant marijuana’s anywhere. Back in 2012, the Drug Enforcement Agency was able to eradicate about four million plants that are grown outdoors. However, because the enforcement policies and ineffective, some farmers are still able to move their plant products to distributors across the country through the backdoor.
In the US, 5 states have already marijuana crops that is estimated to worth over $1 billion. That worth is more than that of the national soybean and wheat crops combined. These places are, Tennessee, California, Hawaii, Kentucky and Washington.
The Marijuana Economy
With the kind of market that we have in this day and age it seemed that, there will also be a new generation of pot entrepreneurs, especially after finding out ‘how much does medical marijuana cost.’ With the medical marijuana price, an entrepreneurial young millennial could be motivated because of the monetary gains, than what their older counterparts can make.
A former National Organization to Reform Marijuana laws head, Jon Gettman, published a paper in 2006 about the estimate scale of marijuana production. It has been found out that the if only marijuana was legal it and was already, “the top cash crop in twelve states, one of the top three cash crops in 30 states, and one of the top five cash crops in 39 states.”
As Medical Marijuana Association has mentioned, there is a market to be filled in marijuana production and selling and it can be distributed very quickly. During 2014, Colorado alone was able to raise $15.3 million on the recreational pot sales during the first 5 months. If the medical pot sales will be added, there is already a $23.6 million revenue for it at about the same time when the recreational pot was being sold. The state also made the recreational pot legal that same year. Coincidentally, the state’s tourism industry is also booming at that time. It was said that a 15% percent excise tax plus 10% percent sales tax on recreational pot was placed. The prices between the two kinds of marijuana was a 100% difference by the ounce. $400 dollars on the recreational on and the medical marijuana price is $200 an ounce.
What Can Medical Marijuana Cure?
So the medical marijuana can be legally used so long as it is used with caution control and prescription. Besides knowing how much does medical marijuana cost, patients ought to know what exactly does it cure or treat. Doctors would advise medical marijuana on the following: headaches, nerve pain, glaucoma, nausea from cancer chemotherapy, muscle spasms, cause by multiple sclerosis, poor appetite from HIV, seizure disorders and Chron’s disease.
The way to use is to either smoke it, or vaporize it, eating it or take is as a liquid extract. It will also have some side effects that will not last very long and it could be dizziness, short term memory loss, drowsiness, anxiety, and it’s most popular effect, having euphoria and the worst could be psychosis.
The cost of medical marijuana, even if advertised publicly through websites and other means does not mean that it was FDA approved. Doctors cannot also prescribe marijuana to people below 18 years of age. One will need to have a card from a doctor should he or she really need to purchase it. Those who are not advised not to use it are: pregnant women, people with heart ailments, and those with psychosis history, even if they can afford the medical marijuana price. Above all this, we need to be responsible citizens when it comes to medical marijuana’s use.