More people selling pot as economy goes up in smoke
Filed under: Economy
Out of work? Some folks are trying pot. Not to smoke -- but to sell. That's the route increasing numbers of people are taking amid the worst recession in decades, according to law enforcement officials based in ganja-rich regions around the country.
"If someone loses their job, they may very well seek an alternative source of income such as marijuana cultivation," Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML, the pro-pot legalization group, told DailyFinance. "It's just a massive market, whether it's legal or illegal," he said, pointing to studies that have suggested that the U.S. could boost revenue from $10 billion to $41 billion annually by legalizing cannabis.
Marijuana seizures -- and we're talking about large scale grow operation busts, not street-corner shakedowns -- have increased this year, according to the Associated Press, as laid-off workers seek alternative means of income and America's insatiable demand for illegal drugs continues unabated.
In particular, marijuana cultivation appears to have increased within the United States, due in part to tougher border patrol measures, especially in the verdant green valleys of the Pacific Northwest's "Emerald Triangle" -- Northern California's Humboldt County, Oregon's Willlamette Valley, and Washington state's forested coastal regions.
"There is an enormous 'Grow America' movement in this country, serving the 26 to 28 million who smoke marijuana every year." said Stroup, NORML's founder. "And as a long-time marijuana smoker, I'm glad it's there, or I wouldn't have anything to smoke."
"A lot of that, we theorize, is the economy," Ed Shemelya, head of marijuana eradication for the Office of Drug Control Policy's Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, told the AP. "Places in east Tennessee, eastern Kentucky and West Virginia are probably feeling the recession a lot more severely than the rest of the country and have probably been in that condition a lot longer than the rest of the country."
"The economy or lack of economy has always driven the marijuana trade," Shemelya added. "It still is the cash cow as far as illicit drugs. It offers the greatest return on investment."
Pro-marijuana groups like NORML, (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), have called for the legalization of the plant as a way to help stimulate the economy.
American demand for marijuana is at an all-time high, even as tests show that today's herb is up to six times as potent as the weed smoked by the Woodstock generation. New growing techniques, including advances in indoor hydroponic cultivation, as well as cross-bred hybrid strains have produced highly potent product available in every city in America, much to the chagrin of parents and anti-drug crusaders from coast to coast.
But as the potency of the pot has increased, so has the potential for damage, according to some researchers. Reports have indicated that the new, highly potent strains have ensnared people in addiction, leading to job losses, financial turmoil, and other personal and medical problems.
But neither the increased risks of more potent pot, nor the recession, has dampened the boom in bud growth and sales, especially as the national culture appears to be swinging toward a more permissive, relaxed attitude toward medicinal marijuana, if not outright legal personal consumption of small quantities, as is the case in much of Europe.
"I've never seen any decline in demand for marijuana in bad economic times," Shemelya said. "If anything, it's the opposite. People always seem to find money somewhere to buy drugs."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
9-10-2009 @ 4:35PM
x1134x said...
I can't help but laugh, because I think I see through some of this pot growing on the US side strategy. They've got the DEA and other taxpayer funded prohibitionists spending billions of dollars on helicopters etc to find these crops in the most remote areas of the US, then make them hike out there to destroy them,all the while growing their real crop to sale indoors where the constitution prevents an unreasonable search. All they have to do is toss out some seeds, perhaps dress it up with some buckets of water, potting soils, irrigation hoses etc. The cartels need spend only 50-500 dollars to neutralize thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on marijuana's prohibition. The old anti soviet union strategy,
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9-10-2009 @ 4:43PM
da governator said...
"American demand for marijuana is at an all-time high, even as tests show that today's herb is up to six times as potent as the weed smoked by the Woodstock generation."
I think that part should say "demand for marijuana is at an all-time high, ESPECIALLY as tests show that today's herb..." LOL
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9-13-2009 @ 3:41AM
Simzee said...
No matter how bad it gets...people only have money for three things. Sex....Drugs & Gambling.
9-12-2009 @ 10:44PM
p curley said...
It is exactly that - An all time "high".
9-10-2009 @ 7:22PM
kirb said...
For thousands of years man has found a way to sell what others want. It's a natural anceint economy. May be suppressed at large costs but if let to run its course would solve alot of modern day problems. And lets face it, throwing millions if not billions of tax dollars at it will not ever stop it.
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9-11-2009 @ 4:46AM
chris said...
The real power in washington are the lobbiests,once you accept that its easy to understand why marijuana is illegal.First the alcohol industry is afraid people would rather smoke weed than drink.Second the tobbaco industry is afraid people would rather smoke weed than thier product.Third the big drug companys realize the value of marijuana medicaly but they cant figure out how to patent it.
Marijuana is the peoples drug and the people dont care if its legal or not thats why its use has been so prolific,power to the people we already have a mandate but washington refuses to listen,I guess its not our country anymore.
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9-11-2009 @ 3:33AM
wm97 said...
The marijuana business is huge - about $100 billion per year - about the same size as the market for beer. So far, because of the laws, this market has been dominated by organized crime. It isn't that way anymore.
I run http://MarijuanaBusinessNews.com and I encounter a lot of people who are looking to go into the marijuana business. The profile of the people who are seriously looking to go into the business is this -- about 50 or older, mostly male, and already well-established in a current business. They typically had no major interest in marijuana before, but now they figure that the time is right to get into the business in a serious legitimate way.
These are not your ordinary pot dealers. They are serious, stable, sober business people who realize that no business survives for very long unless it is an asset to the community. Thus, they start their business with the assumption that they will go out of their way to do things like pay taxes, contribute to the local schools, and keep good control over their business so it isn't a public nuisance.
This is a good thing, too. Currently, the US Government estimates that perhaps $20 billion per year goes to the drug lords in Mexico from the marijuana trade.
Who would you rather have that money? Criminal gangs in Mexico, or responsible, law-abiding, tax-paying business people in your own community?
And the business is booming, too. A good marijuana store might net $50,000 to $100,000 per month. It is making millionaires by the dozen.
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9-12-2009 @ 9:25AM
Bruce Cain said...
Why should I pay some "Cannabusiness" parasite $300 to $500 an ounce when I could grow it myself for $0 to $20 an ounce. Just Legalize Self-Cultivation. Do not Tax and Regulate Marijuana.
9-12-2009 @ 9:43AM
Bruce Cain said...
I just replied to this comment a few minutes ago. The point I made was "why pay these Cannanbusiness people $300 to $500 and ounce when you could grow it for $0 to $20 and ounce yourself?"
It only took about 5 minutes for my comment to be removed. This is censorship. Not nice.
Self Cultivation should not be taxed, regulated or interfered with by the Federal, State or Local Governments. Got a problem with that?
The MERP Model for Re-Legalization will destroy the Mexican Drug Cartels and much, much more. Please visit and post the following link far and wide. This subweb is both for understanding MERP and implementing MERP. We need everyones help on this. Get on the mailing list now! Let's Re-Legalize Marijuana in 2009 World Wide.
To get on the list:
http://www.newagecitizen.com/EmailListSignUp.asp
MERP Headquarters
The Marijuana Re-Legalization Policy Project (MRPP) = "MERP"
http://www.newagecitizen.com/MERP.htm
9-12-2009 @ 9:44PM
Magz said...
Where do I sign up?
9-12-2009 @ 11:54PM
Daniel said...
why have all high and might rich ass holes that have no need for the money they have all the money they can handle already all they are looking to do is step on the poor that have lil to no money this people are going to jack the prices up to $100 for a damn 20 bag thats bs if they were serise about it then why dont they smoke it or somthing thats wrong weed needs to be in the hands of the cominpeople not the rich u kidding me if i were you i would tell them look for a differnt ocupation then growing weed maybe im wrong but i work a dead end job i have ben smokin fo a year and i love it it makes me fell alot better about my self and i have made a lot of good friends from smoking weed but other than that i have nothing to say but keep weed in the hands of us comin people not the rich and KEEP IT AWAY FROM THE TOBACCO COMPINYS!!!!!!!!!! PEACE OUT 4:20 for ever
9-12-2009 @ 9:40AM
Bill Harris said...
Debaters debate the two wars as if Nixon’s civil war on Woodstock Nation didn’t yet run amok. One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under banner of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.
The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. There’s trouble on the border. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. God didn’t screw up. Canadian Marc Emery sold seeds that enable American farmers to outcompete cartels with superior domestic herb. He is being extradited to prison, for doing what government wishes it could do, reduce demand for Mexican.
The constitutionality of the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) derives from an interstate commerce clause. Only by this authority does it reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Official policy is to eradicate, not tax, the number-one cash crop in the land. America rejected prohibition, but it’s back. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment. Father, forgive those who make it their business to know not what they do.
Nixon promised that the Schafer Commission would support the criminalization of his enemies, but it didn’t. No matter, the witch-hunt was on. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA halted all research and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period.
The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. Denial of entheogen sacrament to any American, for mediation of communion with his or her maker, precludes free exercise of religious liberty.
Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.
Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers decreed that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.
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9-12-2009 @ 8:15PM
MrDoughnut said...
Why is the housing market looking to sell $500,000 homes an can't see the jobs as far as China?
Try a white owl with a red tip ya dumb Mofro's
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9-12-2009 @ 8:18PM
BRiTNEY said...
Other countries are not cooperate giants that use such a mass of workers that hold it together as the corruption scandals fire. All a rival coop would need to do to a rivals workers is get them hooked to pot!
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9-12-2009 @ 8:20PM
MrDoughnut said...
Seems when they can't sell homes because of good job losses they resort to fraud loans to float the economy. When they lose their fraud scam they resort to drugs to float the market!
Create jobs an forget the drugs we don't need nor want any more scams!
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9-12-2009 @ 8:27PM
nunui said...
This isn't about a war on drugs- if it is illegal, it is illegal. Don't try to justify your illegal activities as trade or 'personal use'. Native americans are allowed use of controlled natural substances in their rituals- marajuana isn't part of it. Tobacco is and you can legally grow it for personal use. Peyote is also used and it grows naturally and they may use it as well. It is NOT used for recreational use. It is used for SACRED rituals. Don't try to justify any other use for these items. Bill Harris and others here have written on and on about how we should allow people a 'free choice of path in life' and "should tollerate seeker's self exploration". Bull sh*t! You have no clue what you are refering to at all. Any use of these items are controlled by those using them. They use them for specific and sacred religious purposes. What you are advocating is everyday anytime use of unspecific illegal substances and items. Peyote is NOT like LSD. LSD was created in a laboratory and has serious psychological, harmfull side effects that are permanent even for one time users. The amount needed to do this varies per individual. Amounts of psychotropic effects of herbal drugs and medicines are much less and more controlled purely by the total amount needed to harm someone. Half a pound of peyote may be needed to get the harmfull amounts that one might take with one tiny tab of LSD. For instance, chewing coca leaves is not illegal in peru and other countries but refining it into cocaine is. It is helpfull when climbing and working the higher elevations of the mountain ranges for wellbeing of the ingester. Get a clue morons. My brothers in jail and prison who are Native Americans made the choice to be where they were- I love them but we all have demons to exorcise out in ourselves with dependancies.
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9-13-2009 @ 5:05AM
Llew said...
the 1st amendment does not grant freedom of religion, rather freedom from religion. To say the same act is legal in church, for some while illegal for anyone else establishes a state religion. Pot is not adictive, never among all the lies told by the govenment has this been tried. Comes down to what the government is allowed to do, read the 18th amendment it not only outlawed booze but other drugs as well. Drug laws should have been repealed by the 21st, save that minorities were ther ones effected by drug laws. Anyone supporting drug laws is a racist, sorry but that is the truth.
9-12-2009 @ 8:39PM
MAD said...
If you can find me a person who OVERDOSED on POT,It was because he died by choking on a box of DING DONGS from the MUNCHIES.Our goverment can make tax money on GAMBLING,CIGERETTS and BOOZE,And ALL of those things are know to destroy peoples lives.
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9-14-2009 @ 10:12PM
Mary White said...
I agree with you
9-12-2009 @ 8:52PM
Rocky said...
You all are critisizing them, what for, the gov't put them out of work and helped the rich and wealthy to get wealthier. Look at GM after bail out they gave an increase to managers, they did not hire anyone back. Tell the damn magr's to do everything themselves than as it seems they are so important. The same applies to banks, insurance co's, wallstreet, hospitals and health care, cops, retail stores, and when the infrastructure of the country falls down around everyones ears, there is no electricity, water, or gas and trucks do not run due to pumps do not work than maybe someone will wake up and realize that without the back bone of the country working..skilled trades..the country becomes another Mexico or such it will be to damn late.
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