The market price for a gram of medical marijuana was through the roof on opening day. A month in, prices have stabilized — for now.
The reality of what the market will bear is still unknown and will be until next year.
Prices at Oklahoma City dispensaries already doing business are averaging $10 to $25 per gram. An ounce of marijuana contains 28 grams, and larger quantities are often offered at reduced prices.
The first franchise of The Peak, 2120 NW 23rd St., opened mid-November. It offered eight strains but has already sold out of three. Each is priced at $20-$25 a gram. Its location saw over 100 patients a day at least twice during its first week in business, co-owner Jerry Caughman said.
“Right now, as far as getting flower from growers, it’s a little bit on the extreme side as far as prices go,” Caughman said. “We’re paying anywhere from $2,500 to $3,500 for a pound of flower. When you’re talking about the quality, if you’re considering the California, Colorado, Washington state, Oregon market, it’s probably mid-grade type stuff, even the stuff you’re seeing for $3,500. It’s definitely not something you’d see on the top shelf in, say, California. The growers are a little bit disorganized right now, all the ones we’ve been in contact with, honestly, so it’s hard to keep a steady supply because we’re selling a lot of product and they simply don’t have enough. Demand’s high, supply’s low, prices are ridiculous. But, you know, that’s business. That’s just the way it goes.”
The owners of The Peak anticipate selling some strains at $12-$14 a gram soon and expect the premium strains to top out around $35. They hope to have between 40 and 50 strains in each store next year.
“I envision that going down to $15 for the average, $15 to $20 type of deal, and then going down a little further from there once we get all of our growers cranking out a bunch of product,” Caughman said.
Part of the reason pricing was so high out of the gate in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry is the breakneck speed with which it became law. After it was passed, State Question 788 gave growers and dispensaries only a few months before sale was legalized. Some states like North Dakota and Arkansas legalized medical marijuana in 2016, but their industries still haven’t gotten off the ground.
At Urban Wellness, 1515 NE 23rd St., prices have already dropped from $20 a gram for top-shelf product. It’s priced now at $10 and $15 a gram, co-owner Jerry Flowers said. Urban Wellness started selling flower on Oct. 27, the day after it became legal to do so, and is now averaging about five strains at a time.
“We came down on that $20 to help out the patients of Oklahoma, so our highest strain that we’re ever going to carry is going to be $15 a gram,” he said. “The pricing’s going to be pretty much the same through at least the first two or three harvests, and then the pricing’s going to go down. The first harvest is happening right now, and those with quality products are always going to demand a little more money. Those prices on the quality product, I can’t foresee them coming down for another year or so.”
Keeping prices low is a matter of balancing quality and price from growers. Urban Wellness turned down three growers’ offers in the past week.
“If they buy wrong, they have to charge it. If we buy something at $4,000 a pound, there’s no way we can sell it at $10 a gram, so we won’t even entertain that thought,” Flowers said.
He said keeping the price low isn’t an indication of low- or mid-grade quality.
“We’re going to turn down a grower before we put a subpar product out there. We’d rather have two that are really good than six and people complain about them,” he said. “My partner’s been to California, he’s spent some time in Colorado. He’s seen the best of the best out there. Just because it’s priced at $15, we’ll still put our flower up against anyone in this country, not just Oklahoma.”
South of Interstate 40 at Nature’s Cure, 100 SE 29th St., owner Elizabeth Trujillo opened with prices between $10 and $20 a gram. By the third week of November, she had 14 strains on the shelf.
“I think prices in the dispensaries are probably going to stay the same. I don’t think it’s going to go too much lower,” Trujillo said. “You can’t. We have bills to pay. It’s not the street price.”
Trujillo opened the first week of November. She chose not to match prices of dispensaries charging higher prices.
“We’ve pretty much stayed in that same price range. I don’t think it’ll go up. Really, you can’t go too much higher than that because you have social media,” she said.
“Demand’s high, supply’s low, prices are ridiculous. But, you know, that’s business. That’s just the way it goes.”
—Jerry Caughman
On Reddit, the r/OKmarijuana thread is abuzz with prices from around the state, and price gougers are being skewered. One Tulsa dispensary was reportedly selling a quarter-ounce for $125 and a full ounce for $500 the third week of November.
“Anyone that tries to pull this shit deserves to fail,” one poster wrote. “They will never get a dime from me.”
One commenter called them “enemy” prices and double what that amount of marijuana sells for on the black market.
A day later, prices had dropped to $100 a quarter and $300 an ounce, just over cost, according to a Facebook post from the dispensary.
In other states where medicinal marijuana is legal, prices have also stabilized between $10 and $20 a gram, according to data from priceofweed.com. Prices on the site are self-reported by customers. No distinction is made between cannabis sold in dispensaries and product sold on the street.
As of Nov. 21, the average price for an ounce of marijuana in Oklahoma was $345, according to the site.
Comparatively, in states where recreational marijuana is legal, prices have plummeted. Several dispensaries in Washington, which is experiencing a glut of product, are offering ounces of certain strains for $60-$75.
Nobody expects prices to again hit the highs seen on opening weekend. But for now, both patients and dispensary owners are at the mercy of the market and growers.
“We have a little bit pricy, and a really pricy,” Caughman said. “It’s kind of where we’re at, unfortunately, in this early, emerging market we have. But it’s to be expected.”
This article appears in The new class.