Good job everyone! It seems we have become the growers of the largest cash crop in the United States..WOO-HOO..Keep up the good work, overgrow the government!!!!! By David Alexander 2 hours, 15 minutes ago U.S. growers produce nearly $35 billion worth of marijuana annually, making the illegal drug the country's largest cash crop, bigger than corn and wheat combined, an advocate of medical marijuana use said in a study released on Monday. The report, conducted by Jon Gettman, a public policy analyst and former head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also concluded that five U.S. states produce more than $1 billion worth of marijuana apiece: California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington. California's production alone was about $13.8 billion, according to Gettman, who waged an unsuccessful six-year legal battle to force the government to remove marijuana from a list of drugs deemed to have no medical value. Tom Riley, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he could not confirm the report's conclusions on the size of the country's marijuana crop. But he said the government estimated overall U.S. illegal drug use at $200 billion annually. Gettman's figures were based on several government reports between 2002 and 2005 estimating the United States produced more than 10,000 metric tons of marijuana annually. He calculated the producer price per pound of marijuana at $1,606 based on national survey data showing retail prices of between $2,400 and $3,000 between 2001 and 2005. The total value of 10,000 metric tons of marijuana at $1,606 per pound would be $35.8 billion. By comparison, the United States produced an average of nearly $23.3 billion worth of corn annually from 2003 to 2005, $17.6 billion worth of soybeans, $12.2 billion worth of hay, nearly $11.1 billion worth of vegetables and $7.4 billion worth of wheat, the report said. Gettman said the 10-fold increase in U.S. marijuana production, from 1,000 metric tons in 1981 to 10,000 metric tons in 2006, showed the country was failing to control marijuana by making its cultivation and use illegal. "Marijuana has become a pervasive and ineradicable part of the economy of the United States," he said. "The contribution of this market to the nation's gross domestic product is overlooked in the debate over effective control." "Like all profitable agricultural crops marijuana adds resources and value to the economy," he added. "The focus of public policy should be how to effectively control this market through regulation and taxation in order to achieve immediate and realistic goals, such as reducing teenage access." Riley said illegal drug use was a "serious part of the economy," but he rejected the notion of an economic argument for legalizing marijuana. He said marijuana use was an "inherently harmful activity" with serious physical and mental health consequences. He said more American teens were in treatment centers for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003482836_marijuana18.html Los Angeles Times SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For years, activists in the marijuana-legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it. A report released today by a marijuana public-policy analyst contends the market value of pot produced in the United States exceeds $35 billion - far more than the crop value of such staples as corn, soybeans and hay. California is responsible for more than one-third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion, exceeding the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined. Marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states. Jon Gettman, the report's author, is a public-policy consultant and leading proponent of the push to drop marijuana from the federal list of hard-core Schedule 1 drugs, such as heroin and LSD. He argues that the data support his push to begin treating cannabis like tobacco and alcohol by legalizing and reaping a tax windfall from it, while controlling production and distribution to better restrict use by teenagers. Gettman's report cites figures in a 2005 State Department report estimating U.S. cannabis cultivation at 10,000 metric tons, or more than 22 million pounds - 10 times the 1981 production. Using data on the number of pounds eradicated by police around the United States, Gettman produced estimates of the likely size and value of the cannabis crop in each state. His methodology used what he described as a conservative value of about $1,600 a pound compared with the $2,000- to $4,000-a-pound street value often cited by law-enforcement agencies. Nationwide, the estimated cannabis production of $35.8 billion exceeds corn ($23 billion), soybeans ($17.6 billion) and hay ($12.2 billion), according to Gettman's findings. "Not only is the problem worse in terms of magnitude of cultivation, but production has spread all around the country. To say the genie is out of the bottle is a profound understatement," Gettman said. While withholding judgment on the study's findings, federal anti-drug officials took exception to Gettman's conclusions. Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, cited examples of foreign countries that have struggled with big crops used to produce cocaine and heroin. "Coca is Colombia's largest cash crop, and that hasn't worked out for them, and opium poppies are Afghanistan's largest crop, and that has worked out disastrously for them," Riley said. "I don't know why we would venture down that road." Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
I think it would be legal soon if someone could come up with a Quick Cheap "Roadside" test for imparement....like the breathalizer....fer' the Weed "Cuz the Man wants to know....when we do what it is that we do ...lol"
"He said more American teens were in treatment centers for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined." ... thats because their parents put them there because THEY think they have a problem.
Its the system that is putting them there. Average mom and pop really dont want to shell out hard owned money to these programs that our states and government set up for a son who got caught with a dimebag. Im not saying that there arent parents who do voluntarily sign little Johnny up, but that small percentage is a drop in the bucket compared to how the big bucks are rolling in.
I really hope this helps towards the legalization of marijuana.. I'm sick of it being illegal and grouped with hard drugs it's harmless, and I love it
While the numbers are impressive, the government is still going to approach this as they have with every other study, medical or otherwise. This information to them is biased. They will continue to push this under the rug as they have through our own government sanctioned agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, The Department of Health and Human Services, the DEA doing tests with results that what we would consider "bogus". As they are looking at this study just as "bogus". Not to say I dont think this is another good step in the right direction, its also a sad truth that it feels like the odds are going to continue to be against us.
We should all give ourselves a pat on the back . I doubt this will make any difference to the way the government looks at weed, but it sure is encouraging for all of us growers out there.