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Forget Cigarette Prices, This Is What A Pack Of Marijuana Joints Could Soon Cost You

by Sean Levinson

You can buy a pack of joints in Colorado and Washington, but they're way too expensive considering how little joints do for us seasoned smokers.

Denver-based shop Medicine Man charges about $120 for 20 pre-rolled, one-gram joints.

If some big company like Marlboro were to start selling packs once weed becomes federally legal, however, that price would drop significantly.

Fast Company's Thor Benson did some research on the costs of marijuana production and the tobacco industry to conclude that a pack of joints will most likely go for around $50.

According to the Verge, Benson came to this number by comparing the $2 to $3 per-gram it costs to mass produce weed with typical profit margins, which are currently between 40 to 50 percent.

It costs nearly $40 to make a pack of 20 one-gram joints and Colorado currently charges a steep 25 percent tax on weed, so an astronomical $50 does somewhat make the most sense.

He also spoke to Jeff Caldwell, a representative of the parent company of Philip Morris, which makes Marlboro cigarettes.

Caldwell told Benson that his company has "no plans to sell marijuana-based products," but Benson doubts the truth in that claim since Marlboro probably figured out how much it could make off with decades ago.

We just have to hope that Marlboro doesn't apply the same production and profit rules for marijuana as it does for cigarettes.

Benson cites a 1992 report that found that production costs are usually half of what major cigarette companies charge for a pack, meaning that Marlboro could very well charge as much as $70 or $80 for a pack of joints.

Much cheaper than a pack of joints, Benson writes, would be spliffs, which would be 50 percent marijuana and 50 percent tobacco. These wastes of weed and rolling paper could cost just $20, which still isn't very appropriate because they only get you about a quarter as high as a regular joint.

Spliffs would cost less to produce but because they have tobacco, states are more likely to tax them for twice as much.

That would suck almost as much as is if companies rationalized the costs of a pack of joints based on how great they make you feel compared to cigarettes or the market price for an eighth ($60).

But what companies like Marlboro really need to do about this whole joint conundrum is accept that once pot is federally legal, the millions of people whose jobs would be much easier if they could smoke during the day will be going through several packs a week.

$20, maybe $30 tops, and we promise you'll still exceed your predicted revenue.

H/T: The Verge, Top Photo Courtesy: Tumblr