[rholdy]

Regulation. In a true "free-market" system, like we would have if the HN Libertarians were in charge, running a business of this type would be much easier and more profitable. In Colorado, for example, the only reason they have recently "legalized it" is to tax the hell out of the sale of marijuana. The licenses to run a weed-selling business are expensive and almost impossible to get, the taxes you pay on each sale are the highest of anything in the state (more than gas, cigarettes, ect...), and they have crazy regulations regarding the way you are allowed to acquire inventory (the majority of your inventory must be home-grown, all your workers documented and screened, grow-space must be separate from retail space, ect...)

Selling weed legally is a logistical nightmare. Not worth it, in my opinion.

[genwin]

Good points. If the OP could navigate the nightmare and still make a good profit margin, I'd say it's worth it.

Perhaps a risk is black market weed selling for less enough than legal weed that a legal profit can't be made.

[pyoung]

That's is roughly my take on the situation. Until it is legal nationally, it is much too risky to make big money investments that would produce at scale, which would compensate for the thinner margins. At this point in time, you essentially have backyard growers competing against each other and those that stay on the black market can compete at lower prices and with higher margins.

If Washington and Colorado both make efforts to punish dealers who don't comply with state law, then that might push the risk-reward balance further to the legal side of things.