Cost of N.J.’s medical marijuana will limit usage

I never knew the price of an ounce of marijuana which explained a near tumble out of bed Sunday when a Philadelphia newspaper reported that an ounce of medical marijuana would go for $400 per ounce at South Jersey medical marijuana dispensary Compassionate Care Foundation.

The near-Atlantic City marijuana clearinghouse delayed a grand opening as workers harvested buds from 1,500 marijuana plants to be sold to customers who have registered with the New Jersey Health Department.

Four-hundred dollars an ounce sounds pretty expensive although not to medical patients who deal with cancer, nausea, spasticity and glaucoma.

The state’s second medical marijuana facility will allow a purchase of an ounce per exchange while patients can buy two ounces a month.

New Jersey, the state that continues to have the highest property taxes in America, can boast a medical marijuana high that tops all other 14 states that sell marijuana, even Colorado, which became the first state to legalize recreational use of weed, cannabis, Mary Jane, chunky, Colombian, herb, ganja, or any of the hundreds of names that identify America’s popular hemp plant.

Whatever name that gets used, marijuana sales could provide a cash windfall for Compassionate Care Foundation and the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary, Greenlead Compassion Center in Montclair.

OK, yes, these outlets deliver a relief or resolution to patients but their prices, not covered by medical insurance, will confirm the potency of marijuana sales, medical or otherwise.

Why are marijuana prices reportedly higher in New Jersey than in places like Washington, Michigan, New Mexico and super low in Montana where distributors charge a paltry $261 per ounce.

What everybody knows is that if the price of marijuana skyrockets then legal users undoubtedly will access vendors who sell marijuana on local street corners or out of front rooms in homes.

While officials attempt to hold back a tidal wave of marijuana smokers, it’s obvious we move toward a time when smoking pot becomes a legal experience.

Right now, pot resembles Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, defenses can’t stop him they can only hope to contain him.