Pharmacies, generics, brands and strains
I've tried to bring this topic before but I don't get the sense that people want to dive deep into discussions? Hopefully this renewed effort will stir up good discussions?
In pharmacies, MMJ won't be available over the counter, you'll need a prescription. For anyone remotely familiar with pharma, we know there is the "brand name" and the "generics". In most case, the pharmacist fills the order with generics when available because it's cheaper. Health plans often cover generics but not the original brand name.
For Cannabis, the prescription will say X grams of cannabis flowers. Anyone not a novice will ask for a particular strain since the effects and side effects are very different between them. There's sativa, indica and hybrid but there are dozens of different strains. Some make you paranoid, others lift while others smooth.
The most popular strains are currently Blue Dream, GSC, GranDaddy Purple among others.
So a patient will walk in and ask for GSC. Pharmacist will fill the prescription with the generic they have. Brands don't matter on generics on pharma today, patients don't know or care if the pills are made by Teva, Sandoz, Milan etc but the pharmacies only deal with big, reputable manufacturers. Get a prescription for Tylenol-3 for example and you'll end up with an acetaminophen not made by J&J but by one of 60+ companies that supplies pharmacies with the generics.
Bottom line here, we need to talk about cost of these "generic" strains at the pharma level.
At the recreational level, the analogy is alcohol types. Blue Dream might be like Vodka. Once you hit the vodka section, you buy on what? Brand recognition and price. Yes, some might select Absolut or Belvedere but most will pick a "good" value well known brand like Smirnoff. People don't go to the liquor store to search for Diageo, the manufacturer of Smiroff. Most don't even know the manufacter is in fact Diageo and not "Smirnoff".
Let's focus on strains everyone. That's where the discussion of intelligent cannabis investors need to happen. Strain, quality and price.
Ask people if they know Tangueray Gin, Johnnie Walker & Crown Royal whiskey, Baileys as liquors, Guinness for beer etc. Most drinkers will know these brands. Ask them who the manufacturer is? I bet nobody will be able to say "Diageo".
It will be interesting to see how the branding works with the limitation placed by the government. You see the manufacturer or cute "brand name", strain and price along with THC and CBD percentages. That's it. Limitations are severe.
Would I buy an unknown "strain"? Well, does anyone by random "alcolhol" of no type? No. All alcohols are in their own sections, all vodka, rums, wines are all in their sections with manufacturer all mingled in those sections by type. Naturally, given enough natural progression, the same will happen with cannabis strains. I dare anyone to visit dispensaries and come out knowing who the license producers are. They are mosly all done by strains.
I welcome any intelligent discussion on this and will ignore people who are just here to attack others.