ALL-TIME HIGH FOR HOMEGROWN AS POT BECOMES TOP CASH CROP IN US

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
(UKP18.4bn) 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.

The report, Marijuana Production in the US, by DrugScience.org, which
wants marijuana to be reclassified, says the drug is listed as a
Schedule 1 drug, deemed to have no medicinal value and a likelihood of
abuse. Other such drugs include heroin.

The author, Jon Gettman, says the figures show the war on drugs is not
working: "Illicit marijuana cultivation provides considerable
unreported revenue for growers without corresponding tax obligations
to compensate the public for the social and fiscal costs related to
[its] use."

His suggestion that the crop be legalised and taxed was rejected by
the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which pointed
to countries with large drug cash crops, notably Colombia and
Afghanistan.

The report says output in the US has grown tenfold in the last 25
years.

The boom in domestic production has in part been fuelled by tougher
border controls after 9/11. As smuggling from Mexico has become more
difficult the drug cartels have moved their operations into the US,
often creating plantations in remote national park land.