Your Economy On Marijuana

With the opening of iGrow just over the Bay Bridge in Oakland, California and countless legislation bills around the country its about time that we have a serious talk about marijuana.


Our economy is still in shambles and economists predict that things are not going to get better anytime soon.  So what do we do to stimulate this economy?  It's not like money grows on trees...or does it?


Here are some interesting statistics that were featured in the Rolling Stone's April 1, 2010 issue titled "Marijuanamerica" by Mark Binelli:

• Annual revenue of California's weed industry = $14 billion
• # of states in which marijuana is the cash crop = 12
• # of pot plants eradicated in California's Sequoia National Forests in a 2008 operation = 420,000
• Estimated street value of those plants, if harvested = Over $1 billion
• Total weight of all marijuana plants seized by the DEA in 2009 = 3,285 tons
• Total estimated street value of those seizures = 31.5 billion
• Estimated annual cost of marijuana prohibition to taxpayers = $42 billion

With these statistics, making marijuana legal sounds like a feasible solution to a speedy economic recovery which could actually become a reality on the November 2010 ballot in the state of California.

Tom Ammiano, California State Assembly Member, is the main backer of the initiative that has recieved 700,000 signatures which will make it possible to get the measure on the ballot.  If passed, the initiative would make it legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and grow plants in an area no larger than 25 square feet for personal use.  It would also allow cities and counties to permit marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on it.

If this is to pass there are still certain measures that need to be taken and things that need to be monitored closely.  Like making sure production is still moving along smoothly and people aren't smoking too much and getting "too relaxed." And also making sure that the growers are not booted out of thier profession because of a few companies trying to monopolize.  Like Nick Tennant, founder of a pot-growing business-like class in Detroit, Michigan says: 

"It's better for society to stimulate micro-economies of scale.  You give 10,000 people the oppurtunity to make $50,000 a year, rather than giving 10 people the oppurtunity to make $10 million a year."

See a story discussing whether Marijuana is good for you.

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