"Pot pharmacies," or dispensaries in the U.S., similarly to Big Pharma, can get away with gouging an entirely new patient population.
One such business, Med Men, wants to perpetuate a reputation as "The Apple Store of Weed," which implies its products are luxury items, rather than medicine, as its name suggests.
As Javier Hasse writes in Forbes, "An overcrowded retail location selling one brand of high-priced products is not an ideal setting for consumers, especially medical cannabis consumers, who need variety and affordable prices."
The rules of cannabis capitalism are currently as such that, despite Med Men's virtue signaling, (which was mercilessly trolled by South Park) the company can charge whatever it wants for the products sold in its stores. For patients like Mr. Balgley, that's a bitter pill to swallow.
"I assumed there was a regulated price across all New York dispensaries, or at the very least a smaller margin of a couple of dollars, but for Med Men to charge $30 more than Citiva, is ridiculous," Balgley says. "I also have to purchase two life-saving diabetes medicines that cost me $35 with coupons, so that extra $30 Med Men is charging could literally go towards saving my life instead."