The semi-legal pot industry has never been comparable to any other part of the US "free" market. There is no interstate commerce, so each state has its own isolated market, where each government within each state has the ability to draft and pass laws and regulations as restrictive as NM's, or as open as CO's.
In the case of CO, the state legislature is responsible for why the cannabis market is the way it is. They are the reason why only people with more than a million in cash to invest, or with wealthy investors, can participate in the marketplace. They are the reason why those people don't have to compete with anyone but themselves and their own little clique of shop owners. They are the reason why people working as growers and trimmers are paid next to nothing, and why no one has been able to start a union. These shop owners hold all the card; they have all the power in the situation. They will always have more demand than they can possibly meet with their supply, and without any real competition--inside or outside of the state--they can pretty much do whatever they want: charge whatever they want, pay employees whatever they want, and pay themselves whatever they want. Usually regulations are meant to help consumers and the public from the wealthy and powerful business owners, but in this case the regulations only served to empower them even more.
But I imagine that if, or when, the nation fully legalizes and a national marketplace is created, it won't take all that long for the smaller fish--who as of now are big fish in their own state and its isolated pot market--to be eaten and shit out by the bigger fish. And, as mentioned, the Walmart effect will come into play, and people will be more than willing to sacrifice certain things and values--like the mom and pop shop--in favor of attractively cheap pot prices. People shop at Walmart because they are poor. They feel they must save as many nickels and dimes as they can, because they are virtually wage slaves and feel they have no other choice.
People, like society itself, are much harder to manipulate and control when they don't feel like they are one step away from being homeless. A poor man with integrity and values is more than willing to cast aside his integrity, to dismiss his values, in return for a significant financial gain. A poor cop with piles of debt and bills is far more susceptible to bribes and abuse of his authority than a cop who is financially secure and not in any debt. A poor community will easily shut down their main street and mom and pop shops if it means they get to save 15% on their grocery bills. And this is where the wealthy capitalists want to keep us all. They want to keep us all just poor enough to not lose our minds and come for their heads. They want us all to be grateful for being allowed to work our lives away for them, just so we can buy that second car, that bigger TV, or bigger house, or whatever the fuck. They want to keep us where they believe we belong: dancing on the poverty line and singing about the "American dream."
