All-time high for homegrown as pot becomes top cash crop in US

Guardian ^ | December 19, 2006 | Dan Glaister

[Lorianne]

Marijuana is now the biggest cash crop grown in the US, exceeding traditional harvests such as wheat, corn and soy beans, says a new report. The study shows that 10,000 tonnes of marijuana worth $35.8bn (£18.4bn) is grown each year; the street value would be even higher. This dwarfs the $23bn-worth of corn grown, $17.6bn-worth of soybeans and $12.2bn-worth of hay. Marijuana is the biggest cash crop in 12 states, with the value of pot grown outstripping peanuts in Georgia and tobacco in North and South Carolina. In California, the biggest producer, it is worth $13.8bn.

[television is just wrong]

Wow.

Merry Christmas.

[ElkGroveDan]

Wow. Merry Christmas.

Thanks man and I just have to say that...uh....what were we talking about?

[television is just wrong]

lol, Marijuana. My sister went to inspect her rental house when the tenants moved out, and she had to pull out over 200 of those plants starting up all around the front door. Insane. Just Insane.

[SteveMcKing]

Misleading article. They would have one believe that a box of marijuana is grown in one's basement for every box of Cheerio's that's purchased.

Of course pot is worth more. Our farming methods have made food crops cheaper than the dirt they are grown in.

What this really shows is that the drug war has succeeded in driving the price of drugs up, due mainly to their scarcity and the lethal risks of dealing.

[Eccl 10:2]

Let's see...$36bn...conservatively double it for street value...$72bn...times federal corporate tax rate of 34%...that's about $24bn...conservatively double that for other drugs...that's $48bn...add cost of criminal justice system to combat WOD...include cost of housing drug criminals in penitentiary...

That's a lot of frickin' money, folks. We could build us a NICE fence with that kind of dough every year.

[capt. norm]

From what I hear on the local news, the meth labs are doing their best to catch up with the 'farmers'.

Meth kills (after destroying a person's life), but I've never heard of anyone dying from marijuana, and I'm sure that if it did happen it would be front page news.

[DBrow]

This explains recent voting.

[BlazingArizona]

Marijuana is now the biggest cash crop grown in the US, exceeding traditional harvests such as wheat, corn and soy beans, says a new report.

And unlike wheat, corn, and soybean farmers, they don't get a dime of federal subsidy money to grow it. Farmers need those massive subsidies to compete...why?

[gcruse]

"This explains recent voting."

The wildly unproductive cost of trying to eradicate marijuana? Yeah, it's part of the massive overspending for which the GOP got booted.

[ReignOfError]

What this really shows is that the drug war has succeeded in driving the price of drugs up

Hoo-ray! The WO(s)D has made criminals richer!

[umgud]

The study shows that 10,000 tonnes of marijuana worth $35.8bn (£18.4bn) is grown each year;

And they know this how? These ain't farmers reporting crop values here.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

They know this by taking a scientific sampling of college dorm parties, then extrapolating to the entire US population.

[AmericaUnited]

I think these stats are very wild guesses that are far, far overestimating 'the crop'.

[KDD]

Wildwood Weed

(Jim Stafford)

The wildwood flower grew wild on the farm,
And we never knowed what it was called.
Some said it was a flower and some said it was weed,
I never gave it much thought ......
One day I was out there talking to my brother,
Reached down for a weed to chew on,
Things got fuzzy and things got blurry,
And then everything was gone!
Didn't know what happened,
But I knew it beat the hell out of sniffin' burlap.

I come to and my brother was there,
And he said, What's wrong with your eyes?
I said, I don't know, I was chewing on a weed.
He said, Let me give it a try.
We spent the rest of that day and most of that night,
Trying to find my brother, Bill.
Caught up with him, 'bout six o'clock the next morning,
Naked, swinging on the wind mill!
He said he flew up there.
I had to fly up there and bring him down,
He was about half crazy .....

The very next day we picked a bunch of them weeds,
And put 'em in the sun to dry.
Then we mashed 'em up and chopped 'em up,
And put 'em in the corncob pipe.
Smokin' that wildwood flower got to be a habit,
We didn't see no harm.
We thought it was kind of handy,
Take a trip and never leave the farm!

All good things gotta come to an end,
And it's the same with the wildwood weed.
One day this feller from Washington came by,
And he spied and turned white as a sheet.
Then they dug and they burned,
And they burned and they dug,
And they killed all our cute little weeds.
Then they drove away,
We just smiled and waved ..........
Sittin' there on that sack of seeds!

Y'all come back now, hear?

[Caipirabob]

The Federal government has cash cow in substance control. Don't look for Marijuana to be legalized any time soon. The government will do all it can to continue to expand both budget and power while claiming it's threat to the future of our nation.

I think it's all a tremendous waste. They'd achieve far greater progress in legalizing it and providing eduction on it as far as health risks.

[Manic_Episode]

This is a completely government manufactured situation.

"Those Who Forget History Are Doomed to Repeat It"

Prohibition all over again.

Simple Black Market economics.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me over and over shame on robertpaulsen.

[robertpaulsen]

"This is a completely government manufactured situation."

The high price? Yeah, I guess it is.

Why do you want cheap and plentiful drugs? Do you even know? Not enough kids hooked on drugs?

Twice as many teens use legal alcohol over illegal mariujuana. Are you saying that we need to get that marijuana number up?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! And we thing the WOD is working! HA!

[eeriegeno]

The study shows that 10,000 tonnes of marijuana worth $35.8bn (£18.4bn) is grown each year; And they know this how? These ain't farmers reporting crop values here.

Guesstimation from tallymen!!!!