95490: POT AND THE LOCAL ECONOMY

Whenever the topic turns to marijuana, which it seems to do more
often these days, my friends say to me: "You would be surprised to
learn who is growing pot around here!" My reply is usually a knowing
smile and a nod, but really, I had no idea, and recent events have
shown just how clueless I really was.

The general belief alright, my general belief has been that most
growers are either from, let's say the underbelly of our community,
or from the criminal subculture. But I was literally shocked to learn
that it ain't necessarily so! Apparently, some local entrepreneurs
have been financing their businesses with profits from pot growing
operations for years.

I know, just say it: "Well Duh!"

Okay, so I guess I am the definition of "naive-ness" (my own word),
but more likely it's just that I prefer to believe people who make an
investment in this community by opening very nice businesses or
contributing to the general welfare are really good people who only
want to improve the quality of life in our town.

In conversations with many people in town I learned a lot about how
they feel about the marijuana culture. Many young people are upset
and angry because they feel growers aren't contributing their fair
share. The young people I spoke to are hard-working, tax-paying,
involved citizens who are just trying to create a good life for
themselves with their after-tax incomes, while growers get to keep
all of their earnings because they don't pay taxes, but do take
advantage of the services our tax dollars pay for. Other people are
angry because they feel drug profits give growers an unfair advantage
over ordinary folks who have to work harder for what they have, and
growers take that advantage because they, apparently, don't feel
guilty about doing so.

I guess it has to do with those old-fashioned virtues of honesty and
hard work, and the belief too many people don't subscribe to them any more.

Another beef is with the perception growers provide the major support
to the local economy and local nonprofits. While it may be true they
do contribute, it is also true if you consider the amount of support
as a percentage of income, the amount growers contribute doesn't come
close to what the rest of us contribute.

I wasn't aware of the next point of contention because I don't have
kids of high school age, but it seems growers take another unfair
advantage when it come to college for their kids. Because their pot
growing is off the books and they declare no income, they are able to
apply for all kinds of financial aid, including I am told, food
stamps. But when their kids apply to college they claim little or no
income, which qualifies them for scholarship money. So while everyone
else struggles to make ends meet as well as coming up with thousands
of dollars per year for college tuition, growers get a free ride.

I have always been outspoken on the pot issue, and I am currently
engaged with a local task force to promote the passage of Measure B
in June, to repeal Measure G the "Grow-as-much-pot-as-you-want"
initiative. But I do suffer from an affliction that compels me look
at an issue to try to find something good or redeeming from both
sides, and the latest marijuana developments have me wondering.

If we believe growers generally don't contribute anything to the
community, it's easy to feel no empathy towards them. But what if
growers use a significant portion of their earnings as seed money to
start legitimate businesses in town that will provide goods and
services that are sorely needed here, as well as creating jobs and
tax revenue? And what if, during the process of developing these
businesses, growers make improvements to some of the blighted
buildings in town, transforming them from derelict to things of
beauty. Would it be appropriate for us to use a different standard
for these people when we judge them? If we consider drug profits to
be tainted, but they are used to improve the quality of life in our
community, would this remove some of the taint? Even though the new
business could potentially provide income to the grower, and thus an
added benefit, would the business have been established by someone
without pot money to finance it? Many downtown stores have stood
empty for years.

I don't know the answers to these questions. I do understand pot
money is very important in our community, but I also have to believe
we could do very nicely without a marijuana industry here. Most
communities don't have major pot growing, and they seem to get along
okay, and we did okay for many years with timber as our main industry.

Timber is a lot smaller here as an industry, but there are other
things that we could do. I think it's also true the local pot
industry has hampered development of legitimate businesses here
partly because it's so difficult to find people willing or able to work.

It would be interesting to hear what you think of all this.