A big shake-up is coming in the marijuana business, and that means big discounts on weed here in the Bay Area. But it also might soon lead to a shortfall in product availability.
Customers are already seeing discounts of 30-50 percent on some marijuana items in the Bay Area, and that's likely to last a little while because dispensaries have to make room for newly regulated product.
Starting July 1, all medical and recreational cannabis must adhere to new state guidelines for testing and packaging. So dispensaries like Caliva in San Jose will have to sell all of their existing inventory to make room for newly labeled product.
"There is a lot of discounts that'll be out there over the next two weeks," said Larry Thacker, head of operations at Caliva.
The new labels will indicate where the product came from, when it was tested, the results of testing and a way to access those results online.
The discounts and inventory clearance could lead to a marijuana shortage later in the summer as the new product comes online, and that's especially worrisome for those who depend on medicinal marijuana.
"I have a big pain in my hip that wakes me up at night," said Tim Campisi, who uses marijuana for medicinal purposes.
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And sellers aren't sure how long it will take to stock back up.
"It's difficult to know how long it's gonna take for supplies to get back on track," Thacker said. "I think you could see less product on the market, and we are starting to see signs of that already."
Some of the larger dispensaries like Caliva already have started to let customers know about both the coming discounts and possible shortage so people can stock up a now, just in case.
