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On Accessibility: Why Some Patients Still Turn To Illicit Cannabis Products

February 6, 2026 08:00 am ET Estimated Read Time: 9 Minutes

Fact checked by Kymberly Drapcho

On Accessibility: Why Some Patients Still Turn To Illicit Cannabis Products

In the decades before marijuana legalization began to spread across the United States, the legacy market (formerly known as the black or illicit market) was the go-to place for people to purchase cannabis. It was an industry filled with people from all walks of life, who partook for an even wider variety of reasons. Some truly believed in the healing power of cannabis; others saw untaxed profits.

Whatever the motive, it was hard to deny the impressive ability of the cannabis plant to bounce back again and again from ongoing busts, raids, and tightened laws.

Now, however, many people have fully written off the illicit market, and younger generations may not even be aware of its once widespread impact. We have dispensaries, medical programs, and THC drinks in bars, so what use do we still have for an underground market? What purpose would secret cannabis farms serve in a world where we can see a grow facility right in our neighborhood?

As it turns out, the cannabis industry still has a lingering shadow side – and it’s far easier to encounter than you may think.

The Thriving Underground Cannabis World

As of January 2026, 39 states and Washington, D.C. have some form of a medical marijuana program. Twenty-four of those states have legalized recreational cannabis. This combined growth has resulted in 79% of Americans living in a county with a dispensary – something that would have been unthinkable a mere decade ago.

At a glance, things seem to be running smoothly. More people are choosing cannabis over alcohol. Some analysts expect the legal cannabis industry to hit an astonishing $47 billion in worth this year, boosting jobs for growers, marketers, salespeople, and countless other facets of the industry. In a surprising move, the years-long battle to reschedule cannabis was finally won last year.

We’ve been pushing toward these positive changes for so long that it’s easy to let the memories of where we came from fade into the past. The ongoing federal unlawfulness of the plant has led to a patchwork of mismatched stat

e laws across the country, creating an accompanying slog of red tape and regulations for marijuana businesses to deal with each day. Meanwhile, cannabis activists and enthusiasts are focused on education, experimentation, and expanded legality, often lacking the time to dig into the true origins of every product they encounter.

Still, the story of cannabis didn’t reset when dispensaries opened their doors. The habits, hidden incentives, and grey areas that persisted long before legalization have only continued to shape the market.

Which Came First: The Crime or the Law?

With the birth of the legal cannabis market came sincere, well-meaning beliefs that a booming, regulated industry would squash the need for illicit products. For a while, it seemed to work. Colorado legalized recreational cannabis in 2012, followed by a steep drop in the seizure of illegally grown plants. In 2014, just over 2,000 plants were seized.

In 2015, that number skyrocketed back up to almost 20,000.

It’s not just Colorado – California is sagging beneath the weight of millions of dollars of illegally grown weed. Just last year, the California Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force (UCETF) seized and destroyed more than 200,000 plants. There are ongoing debates about the morality of destroying so many plants, but the numbers stay consistent.

Several key incentives for these under-the-table growing operations make the effort worth the risk. Illicitly growing and selling cannabis is a much lower-tier crime than meddling in harder substances, and it’s tax and fee-free, skirting around headache-inducing regulations and up-front costs that have driven legal growers out of business. In some states, legal growing facilities are struggling to match the lower prices offered by illicit growers, on top of tight restrictions that bar the sale of their product outside their state.

These factors have consequently resulted in an illicit market that is not only alive and thriving but hiding in plain sight on dispensary shelves. Many dispensary products, particularly flower or vapes, that look perfectly normal and regulated are secretly sourced from illegal grow operations.

The issue goes further – beyond the accidental purchases of bootleg cannabis lie those who still willingly shop at the illicit market. It happens in every state, regardless of marijuana’s legality, and it directly supports an illegal market that simply refuses to dry up.

Why People Choose Illicit Weed Vs. Legal Cannabis

When you dig into the logistics of navigating the legal market, it’s easy to understand why some growers still choose the bootleg route. Why, however, are so many consumers still interested in the legacy market?

For some, it’s a matter of necessity. A few states still trail behind in the legalization race, with cannabis completely illegal or largely inaccessible. In those circumstances, illicit cannabis is the only option. It’s what so many of us did in the days before legalization, and it has its own accompanying culture that sticks around even now.

Others, particularly in areas with budding medical marijuana programs, may be restricted by the need for a medical card. Perhaps they don’t have a qualifying condition, or the products available aren’t suited for their needs. In Texas, the only option for medical patients is low-THC oil, which may not be strong enough for certain illnesses or pains. Similar problems can be found in West Virginia, Kentucky, Utah, and a handful of accompanying states.

In states with legal cannabis, choosing bootleg products typically boils down to two things: affordability and accessibility.

There is an abundance of high costs associated with growing and selling cannabis legally – taxes, facility rent and utilities, employee pay, packaging, marketing, and storefront fees add up fast. Oftentimes, those costs end up getting passed on to the consumer, making cannabis exorbitantly expensive in some markets. An eighth that runs $20 in Oregon can go for as much as $75 in Washington, D.C. For many, this is just too much to cough up.

Since it’s cheaper to grow bootleg cannabis, it’s usually cheaper to purchase it. This isn’t always a given, however. In states like California, the abundance of both legal and illicit cannabis has driven down the prices of both and built an increasingly competitive market. Places such as Idaho are more likely to see elevated prices, often resulting from the increased risk of getting caught.

Up next comes the lack of access to legal cannabis that many Americans still deal with. You may be in a legal state, but rural areas can still be devoid of licensed dispensaries. Texas has a mere three dispensaries across its 268,000 square miles of land – wouldn’t you also choose the illicit market in that situation?

There are other, more personal reasons for sticking to bootleg cannabis. Some believe the regulated market overuses pesticides or fertilizers. Others are loyal to their dealer or enjoy the ease of not dealing with med cards and dispensaries.

Regardless of individual motivation, there’s no denying that the legacy market probably isn’t going to dry up soon. So, who bears the responsibility for fixing it? The government, the consumer, or the cannabis industry? Problems with this complex hardly ever have one clear answer, and we probably won’t find one fast.

The Dangers of Unregulated Cannabis

Here at Veriheal, we understand that not everybody has access to licensed marijuana. There’s not always a clear answer for people in cannabis deserts, who make do with what they have. For a lot of people, that works fine – but we do recommend being aware of the risks that may tag along.

Unregulated cannabis comes with a level of uncertainty that just doesn’t exist in the licensed market. Without the mandatory testing imposed by governing bodies, there’s no reliable way to know what a product contains beyond what you’re told. Illicit flower has been found to contain pesticides, mold, heavy metals, and residual solvents that would never pass standard state compliance checks.

Vapes and concentrates are an even bigger gamble. They are often produced in makeshift labs with thinning agents or additives that can irritate the lungs or cause long-term damage, such as vitamin E and fungicides.

There’s also the issue of accountability. When something goes wrong with a regulated product, there’s a paper trail with batch numbers, recall orders, lab test results, and licensing bodies who can intervene. Illicit weed offers none of that. There’s nobody to call and no way to know exactly what you may have ingested.

Fortunately, many of these problems are negated by sticking to flower. Although some unregulated cannabis products are making it to dispensary shelves, there are a few things you can look out for when shopping.

First, legal products should always include labels, batch numbers, and access to third-party lab results (often via a QR code linking to a certificate of analysis). Packaging should also list THC content, terpenes, ingredients, and any state-required health warnings. If the product you’re looking at lacks these labels, testing information, or warnings, it’s a good idea to steer clear.

If you’re bound to the illicit market for now, there are steps you can take to find safer cannabis. Flower should always look and smell clean rather than overly damp, powdery, or chemical-like, and any signs of mold, strange residue, or artificial scenting are strong reasons to pass. Buying bootleg vapes, cartridges, and edibles should be avoided entirely.

No matter what your circumstances look like, staying informed is the best way to stay safe.

Final Thoughts

The illicit cannabis industry is a multifaceted problem that is going to take years of cooperation and effort to work on, and it’s almost certainly going to stick around until marijuana is federally legalized. It’s not too different from something the country has experienced before – namely, alcohol legalization.

Just 100 years ago, alcohol was firmly banned in the United States. From that ban sprung various mobs, prohibition protests, speakeasies, and a nationwide counterculture movement that refused to back down to the law. Even after the government finally cried uncle and legalized drinking again, it took some time for the market to rebound and standard rules to fall into place.

We’ve done it before, so we can do it again, and the cannabis movement is showing no signs of slowing down. If we continue pushing for progress, then hopefully we will soon reach the day when everyone has equal, safe access to medicinal cannabis.

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Emily is a Denver-based transplant from Virginia who is passionate about substance use harm reduction, yoga, and music. She writes and edits to support the extravagant lifestyles of her pug and cat. When she's not writing, she can be found doing flow and aerial arts or browsing flights to faraway places.