Cause you damn sure don't seem to understand anything about economics. Supply and demand. bulk supply of Sassafras oil is cheap now, and demand is high, so suppliers will sell cheap oil. When it becomes restricted, and very soon at that, the supply will go away, demand will still be there, and the risks involved in supplying oil will make it expensive as hell. Now since you don't cook and don't understand the situation, you can claim this assumption is false. Anyone that's been in the game for a few years has watched the price of oil triple. I don't think national inflation has gotten that bad, as most things seem to be deflating as of lately. Sassafras oil is going to become expensive when it become impossible to acquire legally. Don't argue it, prepare for it.
And to the person that corrected me; "A pint's a pound the world around." In the case of sassafras oil, a pint's a few grams more than a pound, but close enough considering the essential oil dealer is pouring it wholesale from a 20kg pail into dark brown 8 and 16 oz. bottles.
All paths are the same: they lead nowhere