Pompo

Marijuana Sellers Thriving With ‘White Rhino,’ ‘Wonder Woman’
12/1/08|Bloomberg.com| Review by Dave Shiflett

Here’s some holiday cheer: At least one U.S. industry is not only booming but avoids government intervention like the plague. When these folks need a bailout they call their lawyers, not their lobbyists.

“Marijuana Nation,” which airs tomorrow on National Geographic Channel at 10 p.m. New York time, is an intriguing look at the U.S. marijuana business, estimated to turn a tidy $65 billion annual profit despite an often perilous sales environment.

Anchored by Lisa Ling, former co-host of “The View,” this hour-long show presents enough market stats to make an analyst salivate.

Marijuana, first used as an intoxicant in China some 5,000 years ago, is now the most widely used illegal substance in the world, according to Ling. About 200 million people use pot in one form or another and the market is growing steadily, with 2 million Americans projected to try it for the first time this year.

They’re smoking some powerful weed. In the 1960s most marijuana contained 3-4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the substance that makes you high. That’s like near beer next to today’s cannabis, which can boast concentrations of over 20 percent.

Ling, whose waist-length hair and slim figure make her look like a Grateful Dead twirler, spends much of the program in California, where 22 million marijuana plants are estimated to have been harvested in 2006. That represents a tenfold increase over 15 years ago. Pot is far more profitable than the state’s wine industry, according to the show.

Medical Use

California is also benefiting from sales of medical marijuana, which brought an estimated $3 million in tax revenue to Oakland in 2003. Ling points out that a prescription isn’t all that hard to come by. One stoner on the program says he needs weed because he broke his finger several years ago.

The first anti-pot laws were passed in Texas in 1914 in response to toking among immigrant workers. By 1937 the drug was illegal throughout the U.S. and federal law still puts it in the same category as heroin.

Ling dons a helmet and fatigues to join a bust deep inside California’s Sequoia National Forest, where she rappels from a helicopter like a special-ops warrior. Public land is popular with pot farmers; in 2007 more than 250,000 plants were seized in this forest alone.

Yet these efforts seem futile. Law-enforcement officials say growers often plant five plots, assuming two will be seized by police and/or “pot pirates” while animals will eat the equivalent of another. That leaves two plots that can produce millions in profits.

Hothouses

Other entrepreneurs have taken operations indoors, turning their homes into hothouses where three to four annual harvests are possible. Florida, the show says, is the capital of the indoor trade.

The program also looks at spinoff businesses, including an Internet seed catalogue that offers brands such as White Rhino, Wonder Woman and Haze. Bongs as long as bazookas, and one that looks like an octopus, are also available to aficionados.

There are a few humorous touches, including a worker at a pot dispensary wearing a “DARE To Keep Kids Off Drugs” T-shirt. Ling also lists negative side effects, ranging from memory loss to depression and abnormal heart rate. But she also reminds viewers that marijuana is a blessing to some cancer patients and may help combat osteoporosis.

Last year, 800,000 Americans were arrested on pot charges, 90 percent for possession. In Virginia, where George Washington grew hemp, two plants can get you up to 30 years in prison.

Now that’s really dopey.

frolic

Heal the world, marijuana!

__________________
"Where the hell is my comb?"
Einstein

Rossaroni

Is it true that today's pot has that much more THC in it? I've never heard this substantiated before, but I'm still learning.

VaporizorMariJ

I dont believe that over the last 30 years that weed has genetically gotten extremely better (maybe a little).

The reason why it has more THC in it is because of the methods its grown... The most common smoked weed back in the day was Mexican Brick Weed. Which is weed grown in big fields and had very little attention and care. Even when it was grown indoors many growers were still using Floro's which are nowhere near as effective as some of the lightbulbs we use today (High Pressure Sodium, Metal Halides)

Therefore I believe that Marijuana 50 years ago even 200 years ago had the same potential to be as rich with THC if only it had the same Climate/Lighting/Nutrients & TLC (Tender Love and Care) as we give it today.

For example a friend of mine has taken the seed from shitty brick weed and grown it in his setup which in return grew sticky potent buds.

Strain does count for some things... but all Strains are only good if they are given the proper Conditions.

Pompo

There has actually been higher reports than the 20% shown here. If I remember correctly, I seen some reports as high as 40-45%. But, then again, it's a common scare tactic used by anti-cannibis groups, so you have to take it with a grain of salt and check the source of these type of statistics
Quite frankly, I remember some Tia weed and Maui from back in the 70's that would compare to any weed around today
As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for

Here's statistics from another article I posted a few months back that I find a little more believable.

__________________
---------------------
---------------------

LowRider

sure wish i could find this 20-30% THC content weed more often. I'm tired of swag and have been since well i can't remember. Wish Mexico would produce higher quality bud so us down south have a better supply. love when i go visit family up north. also with the competition i think prices would drop some. i mean 80$-120$ for a quarter ounce is just to much

Vicki

I'm hoping this report on Nat Geo is accurate, and unbiased. I made a thread about it.

http://www.marijuana.com/movies-tele...na-nation.html

I know better than to expect 45% THC levels.

__________________
Be kinder than necessary as everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Save the Wand Hash!
Hungry? Non-Cannabis Recipes
Want real free samples?
Those that forget the past are condemned to re-live it.
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man."
~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

BillieBudd

Count me in with LowRider...I'm hoping some of that makes its way to these parts..quality is very spotty (not that I am complaining, mind)...something akin to the hashish of my youth would make me one happy geezer...

dirtbomb

If you live relatively close to the Mexican border, you can get much better strains from there than brick.
True, it's not like the heyday when Acapulco Gold was the Cadillac of weed, but there are growers with an eye toward the American market, knowing that the good stuff is going to make a lot more money.
My most recent sack, was some really nice upper-mids from there. Lots of little brown hairs on the buds and a wonderful spicy taste and smell.
Marvelous Head high, with a surprising body buzz.
It ain't Skunk, but oh well.

__________________

----------------------------------------------------
Uh, I forgot, Man. What? Oh yeah I dig. Never mind.
Enjoy all the delicious flavours
of our posting guidelines!
http://www.marijuana.com/site-feedba...uidelines.html

LowRider

yea your right. Texas does get good weed but there's still a lot of funk that flows through there. i will say this about Texas is the prices are great. 10 dollars for a quarter oz and that would be midis. how ever the sensimilla (non seeded bud) would still go for the norm 80$-120$ a quarter ounce. made no sense to me.