California leads the nation with $13.8 billion industry

Cannabis is now the most valuable cash crop grown in the US, exceeding the value of corn and wheat combined, according to a study released Dec. 18, 2006. The trend harkens back to the early days of the American Republic, when hemp was the cash crop traded by gentlemen farmers like George Washington, Tom Jefferson, and other of the nation’s founders.   

Today’s domestic cannabis crop comprises 56.4 million plants cultivated outdoors worth $31.7 billion, plus 11.7 million indoor plants worth $4.1 billion, according to the report Marijuana Production in the US. The study by public policy analyst Jon Gettman, PhD, draws on data from the federal government.

California is home to more than a third of the nation’s emerald harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion: higher than the value of the state’s combined grape, vegetable and hay harvests.    

Moreover, herb is the top cash crop in a dozen other states, the report states, despite billions of tax dollars spent over decades of cannabis “eradication” campaigns in which over 100 million plants have been destroyed.    

“The fact that marijuana is America’s number one cash crop after more than three decades of governmental eradication efforts is the clearest illustration that our present marijuana laws are a complete failure,” said Marijuana Policy Project executive director Rob Kampia.    

“America’s marijuana crop is worth more than our nation’s annual production of corn and wheat combined. And our nation’s laws guarantee that 100 percent of the proceeds from cannabis sales go to unregulated criminals rather than to legitimate businesses that pay taxes to support schools, police and roads.”

Gettman is an adjunct instructor in public administration at Shepherd University in WV, specializing in economic development. His report is posted online at drugscience.org/bcr/index.html.   

Key findings include:

• Using conservative price estimates, cannabis is America’s top cash crop, with a value of $35.8 billion this year — exceeding the combined value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.45 billion) combined.

• The top cannabis producing states are California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, and Washington. Cannabis is the top cash crop in 12 states and among the top three cash crops in 30 states.

US cannabis production increased tenfold from 1981 to 2006.

• Despite intensive marijuana eradication campaigns that seized over 103 million cultivated cannabis plants and wiped out an average of nearly 36,000 cultivation sites per year, US cannabis production increased tenfold from 1981 to 2006, from 1,000 metric tons (2.2 million pounds) to 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds), according to US government estimates.

• This enormous growth in cannabis cultivation, despite massive eradication efforts, indicates that “marijuana has become a pervasive and ineradicable part of our national economy” that should be put under a system of legal regulation.

Marijuana Policy Project believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with cannabis is to regulate it in a manner similar to alcohol.

* Mirken is director of communications at MPP, online at marijuanapolicy.org