Mark Cuban Tweets That The New Legal Pot Industry Is For Suckers
After Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijauna, aspiring hippie businessmen everywhere rejoiced, perhaps not realizing that 1) they were still too lazy to go out and actually start a real business (paperwork and weed do not mix), and 2) maybe the marijuana industry wouldn’t be so profitable.
To the latter point, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, elephant walker, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban agrees, and said as much on Twitter after being asked by a follower today. If Mark Cuban thinks it’s a bad investment, it’s probably a bad investment. But why does Cubes think an investment in recreational marijuana could be a bust? And can we really trust a man who once offered to back a tequila promoted by Turtle on Entourage? A character so awful that even a fictional business involvement with him warrants suspicion. Thankfully, Cuban has a some pretty solid, basic logic behind him.
. @byaninek I think it's a lousy biz.. Prices will fall quickly, which will lead to huge taxation of pot products by every taxing authority
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 3, 2014
Legal weed industry: Sell high. DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?????
But, I mean, tobacco does well, so shouldn’t weed? After all, you can smoke both of them and that’s pretty much all we need to know, right? WRONG AND YOU’RE STUPID.
@ChetTweets @byaninek if it was 1964, yes. Not 2014
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 3, 2014
Certainly, more nuanced arguments could be made from either side of the debate, but it’s hard to disagree on investment advice with a guy like Cubes. In fact, you can get a whole lot of financial advice simply by scrolling through the guy’s timeline. It seems like he spends a good portion of his social media activity arguing about investments and the like with his followers, and you pretty much have to take the side of the guy who made a billion dollars AND utterly destroyed Skip Bayless in a debate on live TV when it comes to financial debates.
[via Twitter]
Cuban is probably buying up land next door to the weed distribution centers so he can open pizza parlors.
12 years ago at 10:06 amPeyton Manning has purchsed a few pizza places in Denver in the recent past
12 years ago at 12:50 pmSay what you want about his antics, but Cuban is a really smart guy if you have never read anything he had written then you should.
12 years ago at 10:22 amWhy would you invest in weed? It’s called weed for a reason. It is easy as hell to grow, all you need is a seed. I know you went to Mizzou but even you can wrap your head around how that is not a profitable industry. Weed was a much better investment when it was illegal and therefore had a higher return on investment because you took the risk of getting caught.
You are getting too old to still try and act so dumb Bacon.
^ this. What made it such a previously profitable business was that John Doe had to worry about getting arrested so he wasn’t nearly as eager to start selling, thus allowing you to monopolize your area and control pricing. As soon as you have competition, as well as legalization (taxation) your revenue gets slaughtered.
12 years ago at 10:30 am^^what in the absolute fuck are you talking about? I do nothing but agree with Cuban, save for my comment that more nuanced arguments could be made from both sides. I don’t know you but I’m guessing you aren’t too anything to act as dumb as you are.
12 years ago at 10:33 amPizzas are also super easy to make but Dominos and Pizzza hut are doing just fine..the weed business will be all about marketing and who can expand the fastest.
12 years ago at 12:13 pmThe thing is john doe can’t grow good weed. And when good weed is around, they can charge whatever the hell they want. The poor and desperate can keep buying their schwag, while people who want good weed will pay whatever the going rate is. I don’t necessarily think weed itself is the demand, but quality. Look at the beer industry, some people will keep buying their shitty beer when they have money, while others will buy more expensive micro-brews. The people who invested in dispensaries from the beginning and have an idea on how to market to potheads will succeed. It won’t be as easy as just throwing money into some business that sells weed, but there will be profit to be had.
Then again I have little to no idea how it is going to be taxed exactly, but what I’m trying to get at is that growing good weed is not that easy, and that there will always be a demand for high quality weed as well as low quality weed independent from price.
12 years ago at 4:50 pmNot like people can’t grow it themselves…oh wait. Anyone want to move to CO or WA and open up a late night taco stand?
12 years ago at 10:59 am^Bacon smash
12 years ago at 11:55 amnot to discredit the Cubes but holy shit…http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/1-million-sales-first-day-alone-launch-legal-weed-colorado-successful/
12 years ago at 2:37 pmThe reason Tobacco flourished 50 years ago but not today is because people have grown more conscious of the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes. Marijuana doesn’t have these issues, however. Most pot shops are selling edibles and vaporizers that decrease these effects thousandfold. Even if you smoke marijuana, it’s still substantially healthier than smoking cigarettes. I don’t think tobacco correlates to marijuana as closely as Cuban thinks.
If marijuana isn’t hugely successful, the reason will be because it’s not addictive like tobacco and alcohol. Although, it does have one benefit over alcohol in that it doesn’t cause hangovers.
I don’t understand why he think prices dropping will result in larger taxes. It’s already being taxed massively. Taxes are a percentage of price; lower prices will result in lower taxes. If anything, I expect individual cities to lower their tax rates in order to compete better with neighboring municipalities. Who’s going to buy their weed in Denver when they could drive an extra 10 minutes to Aurora where the tax rate is 10% lower? Most areas have set tax rates so high as is that there is no where to go but down.
12 years ago at 5:07 pmI think you misunderstand Cuban’s taxation argument: Taxes on marijuana are excise taxes set for no reason than to discourage the underlying behavior or to offset the societal drain they cause (as with cigarettes, etc..). If prices fall, taxes at their current rates won’t offer the same discouragement, which will in turn lead to higher tax rates. These higher tax rates eliminate room for higher margins, leading to a less than attractive business model.
12 years ago at 3:36 pm^ thank you. OP dropped the ball.
12 years ago at 1:25 amWhy shouldn’t you invest in the marijuana industry? Because it’s still illegal on the federal level. If Obama ever feels like it, he can seize all your assets with the flick of a wrist.
12 years ago at 5:32 pmCan you not be a complete retard anymore? Thanks and have a good day.
12 years ago at 2:53 pmBacon you look pale as fuck and dumb as shit in that tiny picture of you next to that stupid paragraph about your pathetic and miserable life
12 years ago at 6:35 pmI’ve never laughed as hard at any comment on tfm, as I just did for that one.
12 years ago at 6:34 amDrug dealing has been one of the most profitable businesses in human history. I feel like he’s actually missing out on a huge opportunity.
12 years ago at 12:33 amIt was so profitable because it was illegal you dumb fucking fuck
12 years ago at 12:41 pmHonestly he’s right but not because weed shouldn’t be legal but because even though it’s legal, surprise, surprise, the government will find a way to fuck it up. His point about 1964 vs 2014 is spot on. Back then, people minded their own damn business and didn’t try to legislate, or at least shame you into living the way they thought you should live. Guys like Mike Bloomberg wouldn’t have gotten elected dog catcher in 1964. America has gone soft. I personally find weed to be a waste of time and money, and far, far inferior to getting black out drunk. But hey, if you want to smoke pot, that’s none of my business, and no one should punish you.
12 years ago at 3:53 pm