POT INDUSTRY A COVERT PLAYER IN LOCAL ECONOMY

Every year, southeast Ohio produces millions of dollars worth of marijuana
that could boost the Athens economy, according to some Ohio University
professors.

"To serve and protect" the public is the police mission, but when it comes
to marijuana it's seek and destroy. In the past six years, state and local
law enforcement agencies reported confiscating more than $80 million worth
of marijuana from 10 southeast Ohio counties in an effort to eradicate the
intoxicating drug.

In such economically depressed areas as southeast Ohio, marijuana
eradication destroys wealth that would otherwise support the legitimate
economy, said Rick Matthews, assistant professor of criminology and
sociology at OU.

"If you stopped all the illicit drug dealing in the country, it would have
a detrimental effect on the economy," Matthews said. "The dealer at the
used car lot doesn't care where you got your money, as long as you're
buying a car."

Appalachia's rural pot growers rarely fit common conceptions of drug
dealers, according to Matthews.

"It's not all these evil characters," he said. To make ends meet, farmers
sometimes grow marijuana mixed with crops such as soybeans or corn,
Matthews said, and their motives are purely economic.

Secluded areas and good growing conditions make southeast Ohio an ideal
place to grow marijuana, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The high
quality of the area's marijuana and the danger involved in its production
and sale give it a hefty price tag, confirmed Bret Crow, spokesperson for
the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCI).

"It's highly plausible that marijuana is Meigs County's biggest cash crop,"
said Richard Vedder, a retired economics professor at Ohio University and a
widely published economist. "By the very fact that the (marijuana) trade is
illegal, nobody knows its exact size."

An average pot plant is worth $1,000, according to BCI statistics. A
quarter-ounce of locally grown marijuana, enough for a dozen joints, sells
for around $100, local sources said.

Continuing an older trend recorded since 1996, southeast Ohio was a major
source of marijuana seizures in 2001, accounting for almost half of all
seizures statewide, according to BCI, which tracks and assists marijuana
eradication in Ohio.

A total of 81,249 plants, about a third of all Ohio pot captured over the
past six years, came from Athens, Meigs, Gallia, Noble, Vinton, Washington,
Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence and Monroe counties.

To meet local demand, most regional growers sell their pot to people living
in Athens and other population centers, who then re-sell smaller
quantities. Some also sell to people who smuggle the drug out of the
region, local police said. As dealers replenish their inventories, money
flows back to the growers, who reinvest in fertilizer and other growing
expenses.

But people shouldn't assume that all drug sales are economically
beneficial, Vedder said. Users don't help the area economy unless they buy
locally produced marijuana.

"You could actually hurt the Athens economy," Vedder said. "If what's
happening is that money is being taken out to buy (drugs) produced outside
the community. It could be a drain."

According to BCI's spokesperson, more and more cheap, low-quality Mexican
pot has been imported to the region as police have clamped down on local
production.

It's fairly common knowledge that marijuana production was once a huge part
of the local economy. Athens is said to have been the regional distribution
center for marijuana produced mainly in Meigs County during the '60s and
'70s, according to Vedder.

Though pot production was higher before the eradication efforts of the '80s
and '90s, Vedder said, stories about the region's pot industry are probably
overblown.

Vedder pointed out that personal income in Meigs and Athens counties has
increased steadily over the years, even when the marijuana eradication
program was at its most active in the '80s.

Though not evident in county statistics, money generated by marijuana sales
probably had some impact on local economies, Vedder said. The pot industry
just wasn't the financial empire some stories make it out to be, he maintained.

A former marijuana farmer from the Athens area said that growers produced
hundreds or thousands of plants at a time in the '70s. Athens County
Sheriff Vern Castle backed this assertion, explaining that today's growers
work on a smaller scale in better-hidden areas.

Though police efforts were only one factor, the local marijuana industry
and the large growing operations it relied upon began to collapse in
subsequent years, the former grower said. Over the years, dealers lost
their market position, partly because they failed to pass on their
knowledge and experience.

"My generation were all risk-takers, and we knew how the business worked,"
said the former grower, who asked not to be identified for obvious reasons.
"But after us there was no one to take over."

At the same time, cocaine dealt another blow to the local scene, he said.
Cocaine dealers captured pot industry profits, and many marijuana dealers
became addicted to the new drug.

"Yep," he said. "Cocaine destroyed most of them."

Though the high price of the region's marijuana would fall if it were
legalized, consumption would probably increase, according to Vedder. The
result would be higher income for pot-producing regions such as southeast
Ohio, he said

But to some, marijuana's economic potential is outweighed by the negative
aspects of drug use.

U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Democrat who represents Ohio's 6th District,
including eight of the 10 counties surveyed, said that illegal drugs can
never be a truly viable economic asset.

"The economic problems of southeast Ohio are not going to be solved by
growing marijuana," Strickland said. "If we're ever going to have strong
economic growth, we've got to have a strong education system. That's
absolutely the foundation."

Economic assistance for Ohio's most stressed areas is the way to go, said
Strickland, adding that illegal activities should never be encouraged.

With increased use, marijuana's side effects would damage public health,
said Mindy Jones of Health Recovery Services in Athens. Marijuana weakens
users' immune systems and is especially harmful to young people, whose
bodies and minds are still developing, Jones said.

The drug can make it difficult for people to accomplish tasks, she said, by
creating an excited mental state where users feel they want to do several
things at once. Often, they will end up doing none of them, she said.

On the other hand, abusers might feel more comfortable seeking treatment if
the drug were legalized, she said.

"People might not come now," said Jones, "because it's illegal and they
might be afraid they'll be reported."

Athens Police officer Ron Brooks, a specialist in narcotics while assigned
to the department's investigative unit, said that it's inappropriate to
look at marijuana exclusively in terms of economics.

"If (growers and dealers) spend money, they're probably putting it back
into the economy," Brooks said. "But I don't look at it as a positive."

People without much money often spend what they have on drugs, Brooks said.

"Most jobs around here don't pay that well," he said. "If people are trying
to make a living off minimum wage, they don't generally have enough money
to go out and buy a bag of weed."

He said drug users often steal to finance their habits, canceling any
positive economic activity with the cost of their crimes.

But there would be less drug-related crime if marijuana was legalized, said
Vedder.

"If you could buy marijuana out of a vending machine, people would be less
likely to commit crimes than if they have to put out 20 or 100 bucks,"
Vedder said.

Vedder agreed that there's obviously more than economics to consider when
it comes to marijuana and illegal drugs.

"I suspect that the legalization of marijuana would have a positive effect
on this region's economy," said Vedder. "Does that mean we should legalize?
Well, that's another issue."