HIGH TIMES FOR FARMERS AS CANNABIS IS NAMED AMERICA'S BIGGEST CASH CROP

Marijuana is the most valuable cash crop in the United States, worth
more to its growers than corn and wheat combined, according to a new
report by a leading American drug reform lobbyist that cites the US
government's own figures.

Decades of government efforts to crack down on both the cultivation
and consumption of pot have had a counter-productive effect, since
even the most conservative government estimates suggest domestic
marijuana production has increased tenfold in the past 25 years. It is
the leading cash crop in 12 states, and one of the top five crops in
39 states.

The report's author, Jon Gettman, says it is "larger than cotton in
Alabama, larger than grapes, vegetables and hay in California, larger
than peanuts in Georgia, and larger than tobacco in South and North
Carolina".

California accounts for almost a third of all US production. It is a
major economic force in the state, especially in the redwood forests
in the north, where the smell of weed wafts unmistakably down the
streets of several towns.

Marijuana remains popular with the baby boomer generation, which first
experimented with it in the 1950s and 1960s. And its use is booming
among teenagers and young adults, especially as alcohol cannot be sold
to under 21s. US Marijuana cultivation is worth more than $35bn
(UKP18bn) per year. And that is a conservative estimate, based on
government price surveys, Mr Gettman says. Corn, the largest
legitimate crop, is worth just over $23bn and soybeans around $17bn.
"Despite years of effort by law enforcement, they're not getting rid
of it," Mr Gettman told the Los Angeles Times ahead of his report's
publication yesterday in The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform. "Not only is
the problem worse in terms of magnitude of cultivation, but production
has spread all around the country. To say the genie is out of the
bottle is a profound understatement."

Figures issued by the State Department and other government agencies
show marijuana production increased from an estimated 2.2 million
pounds in 1981 to at least 22 million pounds. Some estimates put the
current crop as high as 50 million pounds.

Since the presidency of George Bush Snr in the late 1980s, official
policy has been one of zero tolerance of all illegal narcotics.
Recently, the federal government has been unforgiving of the medical
marijuana movement, and federal agents have raided numerous marijuana
farms that were fully licensed under state law.

It has not cut down use of the drug. Mr Gettman and other activists
argue that it might be time to legalise the entire industry and
subject it to proper regulatory control and taxation.

"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 Rob Kampia, executive director of Washington's Marijuana Policy
Project.