Best that I can tell, prices for retail pot in Colorado are about half that in Washington. I use websites of the retailers in WA and CO, which are really bad as a rule, to gauge this. I use the best sites I can find to do comparisons, but it’s always flakey.
Colorado does not require independent lab testing for products sold at retail (“recreation” is the word they use), Washington does and it’s required on the label of the product being sold. This information is very, very useful to the consumer, and drives the price in WA to some extent. In fact, there are six testing labs that have materialized in WA since legalization, and I’d expect more. CO is happy they now have three, but testing is voluntary.
Medical places are everywhere, but retail/recreational is by far to be found in Denver. 90% of the retail in the state are in Denver (or Boulder), the rest spread around in rural. Contrast that with WA, where 95% of the retail is spread out over the state in more rural areas, the minor in Seattle. This difference is one of the most fascinating I’ve seen.
The big news right now in Colorado is “image”. Smart money is going for “branding” and revamping the stores and advertising and such, shooting for a higher level of customer than “the stoner in the basement”. This is another most interesting development in this industry, and is causing a huge amount of angst in CO. “The elites are going to turn this into a premium product”. “The tax money is great!”, “It’s all about tradition, don’t care about us smoking dope in the mountains”. Skis vs boards. This is Colorado.