14 ms·

The End of the War on Drugs and the Emergence of the Cannabis Industry

71 points by carlchenet 11y ago

rayiner 11y ago
The war on drugs is not ending. Marijuana is the only thing people want to legalize. 80-90% want to keep everything else illegal. That is a problem. Legalized marijuana will surely cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids, but that'll remove the exigency from the injustice that continues to play out in other parts of the system.
- cyphax 11y ago
  But Marijuana is a gateway-drug. ;) So perhaps legalizing it and letting that situation become the new normal will open the door to people taking another look at the rest of drugs and how to properly deal with the problems they can cause.
  - chilon 11y ago
    > Marijuana is a gateway-drug The gateway drug theory has been discredited, doesn't stop right-wingers bringing it out at every opportunity though.
    - golergka 11y ago
      I think that it might have been sarcasm.
    - teddyuk 11y ago
      I am not sure why people think it is perfectly fine, there are serious mental health risks associated with it. I am probably the only person on HN who thinks that legalization is a bad thing - I used to smoke a lot and strong marijuana definitely caused me issues and I really wouldn't recommend anyone else abuse it to the levels that I did.
      - jnbiche 11y ago
        You had a bad reaction to some substance and so you want to make it illegal for anyone else to consume it, even if most people don't have a bad reaction to it and can moderate? And throw them in jail to rot if they don't comply? I can't understand this attitude. I had some problems because of alcohol and now abstain (and have for 10 years), but I'm not in favor of re-enacting prohibition. I'm totally fine with people drinking, it's just not a good idea for me. (btw, I don't use marijuana, either)
        teddyuk 11y ago
        ok, I suppose what I am against is the commerialization of it - cigarrettes have made corporations like BAT significant amounts of money and killed significant amounts of people - investing in products that seek to sell them will produce companies whose aim is to sell them / create profit - that is bad when the products they are selling have harmful side effects. Make it legal / Ensure people know the risks / Do not create corporate entities who have taken investment and have a responsibility to shareholders to make money as that is bad.
      - dylanjermiah 11y ago
        I don't smoke or drink, but I believe in complete legalisation. Individuals, as long as they're not hurting anyone, should decide what to do with their own bodies. The war on drugs has caused more harm than the drugs would have themselves. Countless lives lost and trillions of dollars wasted. For what? More people than ever use the substances. The 'war' has kept the cartels in business, inflated their prices and degraded the quality of the product. The war on drugs hasn't progressed anything, only destroyed.
        rayiner 11y ago
        > I don't smoke or drink, but I believe in complete legalisation. Individuals, as long as they're not hurting anyone, should decide what to do with their own bodies. I'm curious: do you believe in a social safety net? Do you believe society has an obligation to ensure that everyone has their basic needs met? If so, how do you reconcile that belief with the idea that individuals have no reciprocal obligation to society to abstain from using products that are harmful, and which cause addictions that hurt not only the individual users, but their families and loved ones?
    - jnbiche 11y ago
      He/she was making a play on words. Marijuana policy would be a "gateway" to a new, rational approach to drug policy.
  - saiya-jin 11y ago
    make alcohol illegal and you have a new gateway drug
- Nursie 11y ago
  I can see this going one of two ways. Optimistic - people in mainstream society realise cannabis is not destroying society and slowly come to appreciate that alcohol is not the only drug, and that drugs (and drug users) aren't the devil. The edifice comes tumbling down and we start looking at drug policy (and our massive drug-related budget) in terms of harm reduction. Pessimistic - the largest group of drug users is brought into the fold of the mainstream. The idea of 'hard' and 'soft' drugs is reinforced and users of anything other than cannabis and alcohol are pushed even further into the category of 'other'. Drug-war resources used against cannabis are diverted into continuing to make everything worse for everyone when it comes to all other drugs. Central and South America and West Africa continue to get torn apart by cartels feeding off Europe and North America's insatiable appetite for cocaine. Other parts of the world that have the raw materials for other drugs (sassafras, poppies) go the same way (if they haven't already). NPS with unknown health profiles continue to be churned out and consumed by the kiloton. Unfortunately I think the pessimists probably have the right of this one for the next several years at least.
  - shalmanese 11y ago
    third way: Mainstream users largely move away from consuming illegal drugs into abusing prescription drugs. The drug marketplace becomes a confusing grey market of legitimate, semi-legitimate and completely illegitimate usage of the same substances.
    - vidarh 11y ago
      > The drug marketplace becomes a confusing grey market of legitimate, semi-legitimate and completely illegitimate usage of the same substances. Largely like today, then. E.g. the largest gateway to heroin use is prescription opioids (which are far more expensive to buy on the black market than it is to buy equivalent doses of heroin from your friendly neighbourhood dealer; and in some countries heroin too is provided on prescription - e.g. in the UK, in addition to occasionally being made available to addicts, it is used as legitimate pain relief for post operative pain though I believe only for inpatient use)
  - saturdaysaint 11y ago
- EiZei 11y ago
  It's still nearly half of the drug arrests in the US.
- bilbo0s 11y ago
  "...cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids..." Law enforcement eases up on suburban white kids in any case. Legalization will actually help the kids who are normally given more harsh punishments for possession. The fact that they will be given the most harsh punishment combined with the fact that marijuana is the drug of choice for the urban youth demographic is what leads to the disparities we see when we view amalgamations of the data.
  - chimeracoder 11y ago
    > The fact that they will be given the most harsh punishment combined with the fact that marijuana is the drug of choice for the urban youth demographic is what leads to the disparities we see when we view amalgamations of the data. Sadly, no - it will just change which drugs are used to vilify racial minorities and justify their incarceration. I wish that weren't the case, but I've seen this pattern play out far too many times over the last century to think that it won't happen again. FWIW: I used to work in drug policy reform, so while I won't pretend to know everything, I'm not just commenting as a casual observer, and I would love for history to prove me wrong this time. EDIT: Since people seem to disagree, let's look at the history that brought us the initial criminalization of marijuana in the first place (profit-driven motives, capitalizing on xenophobia of Mexican immigrants), the criminalization of the opium trade (ditto, but for Chinese immigrants[0]), the criminalization of crack cocaine over powder cocaine (race-driven hysteria over the form of the drug perceived to be more "black"[1]), and so on, and so forth. Or, if you want to extend this argument further, let's look at the pharmaceutical cycle. Not everyone knows this, but heroin was originally a trademark name for a drug. Furthermore, the reason that heroin was originally produced was in response to the use of morphine by (and I quote) "ruffians". Heroin was actually originally intended to be the less-addictive alternative. Take a look at who the so-called "ruffians" were, and you'll see this cycle continue all over again. [0] we're talking just about the US, but you can extend this to former colonies as well if you want [1] Look at the propaganda about crack that was coterminous with a peak in (powder) cocaine usage among the wealthy white demographics, and it becomes pretty clear.
    - lkbm 11y ago
- dylanjermiah 11y ago
  Hopefully marijuana legalisation acts as a stepping stone to further reform, and ideally (to me) complete legalisation of everything.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  I thought that white suburban kids were already pretty much immune against actions for small amounts of marijuana possession. The whole war on drugs was always thinly veiled as pretext for oppression of blacks/hispanics/poor.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  I don't see this as much of a problem as you do. Except for the pill poppers, who could probably be managed better than they are now and a few other drugs that are in line with Marijuana... Meth, for instance, greatly accelerates the damage of a number of degenerative diseases [e.g. HIV] on top of the more commonly discussed effects.
- drzaiusapelord 11y ago
  >Legalized marijuana will surely cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids Pot is hugely prevalent in the black community. This is what I hate about the uber-politically correct attitudes popular here. If we weren't discussing legal pot, we would be discussing how illegal pot is ruining the black community. Now that we're legalizing pot, we can't just pretend this isn't a win for them. Hell, its a net win for every socio-economic group in my opinion. Not to mention suburban white kids weren't getting shit from the cops to begin with. They were getting breaks or their parents' wealth and influence kept them out of trouble if they did actually run afoul of the law. > 80-90% want to keep everything else illegal. That is a problem. No its not. Strongly physically addictive drugs cause social harm. We're not legalizing heroin or cocaine or meth. The number of people who consider those drugs harmless that need to be made legal immediately are a tiny extremist minority with zero political power. That's the system working the same way its working now to make pot legal because attitudes have changed greatly in the past few decades. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with things like MDMA and psychedlics, but we need to make baby steps first with pot. Pretending legal pot is bad policy just because you can't buy a gallon of liquid acid at Walmart is asinine. I think so many internet commentors have internalized negativity for things like upvotes and attention that they literally cannot applaud a good thing when its happening. Its sad to see all these sour attitudes here at HN and reddit. The realistic alternative here isn't some paradise of legal everything; its more drug war nonsense. This is our first step to stop the drug war. It should be applauded as such.
- kw71 11y ago
  Since cannabis is well known to be mostly harmless, and much more harmless than alcohol, it seems like a good start. LSD might be in this category too. There are other ones that have value in medical, psychiatric and therapeutic settings, and definitely should not be completely banned simply because of their potential to cause harm. Another class offers zero benefit or unreasonably small benefit for the risks. "Bath salts" anyone? We have more socialism in the USA than many people realize and as long as I am paying taxes I'd prefer to not have to pay for unnecessary tragedies, second only to my wish to not fund the military and spies. We have to pay for quite a bit of emergency room care, social security death benefit, mental health or domestic violence counseling, etc. already due to the abuse of alcohol.
kephra 11y ago
I've heard rumors, that Monsanto is behind the legalization of marijuana, planing to sell seeds, fertilizers and herbicides. Is there any truth behind this rumor?
- Nursie 11y ago
  It would not surprise me if many large agri-tech companies had plans for if/when it becomes fully legal from production to consumption in more places. However I have definitely heard lots of conspiracy-theory type stuff coming from the more crunchy end of the pro-pot spectrum. Some of them even actively resist legalisation because they don't want 'corporations' involved in the trade. Personally, I think the greater virtue is getting rid of our terrible laws and war on drugs, we can sort out marketplace ethics later.
  - EiZei 11y ago
    It amazes me that some people prefer the DEA and for-profit prisons to corporations. At least Monsanto doesn't show up in your home unannounced in the middle of the night and shoot your dog.
    - sageabilly 11y ago
      Not unless you're growing corn without a license.
- Agathos 11y ago
  There is only one lab in the US with a federal license to grow marijuana. It isn't Monsanto. So I doubt Monsanto has a stock of superior seeds, just ready to take over the market. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/18/government.marijuana.garden/index.html?eref=rss_us http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/18/government.marijuana.gar...
- matwood 11y ago
  I'm sure every agg company + tobacco have plans for when/if marijuana becomes legal on the federal level. It is simply good business sense to be ready.
pmlnr 11y ago
2015 - also known as After Ford 107 http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html
- kolbe 11y ago
  I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the US has been going the way of BNW for a long time. This whole time we've been scared of 1984 being imposed on us that we've let BNW naturally creep in.
VeejayRampay 11y ago
From my European perspective, the equation looks simple: In the U.S., money talks. And it's loud. If the figures showing up from the states of Washington and Colorado (there are others) are good and they mean people are making boatloads of cash with that crop, legalization will spread like wildfire. It is one of the good aspects of a more deregulated market after all.
- chimeracoder 11y ago
  > From my European perspective, the equation looks simple: In the U.S., money talks. This is true literally everywhere in the world. Some places may be more up front about it and others may try to hide it more, but in the end, everyone is subject to the same constraints of economics.
  - VeejayRampay 11y ago
    It is indeed true of pretty much everywhere in the world. But the people in the United States have, in my opinion and understanding of the world, a more natural tendency towards cold mercantilism where the personal feelings don't take precedence over good business models and potential financial gain. It is a trait that I believe is true of many protestant-based, trading-infused societies (like the UK, the Netherlands and others). That should have read: "Money talks everywhere, but even more so in the U.S".
- rayiner 11y ago
  Americans care a lot more about ideals (though often ones that are in retrospect misguided) than money. For example, in the decades preceding Prohibition, 30-40% of the federal government's income came from excise taxes on alcohol: http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-taxes-enabled-alcohol-prohibition-and-also-led-its-repeal http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-taxes-enabled-alcohol-proh.... Prohibition overnight eliminated that revenue. The government gave up a lot of money to indulge moralistic fervor.
saturdaysaint 11y ago
Funny, it's practically an old hippy canard that there wouldn't be much money to be made if it were legal. I'm sure that there's money to be made somewhere, but this is a pretty easy plant to grow/cultivate if it's ever legal to have a few plants in your backyard - far easier than brewing your own beer. My guess is that the money will go into building a few solid brands. I wouldn't be surprised if edibles were the focus here, too - they're much easier to make at scale than by individuals, a lot of people probably prefer eating to smoking, and they provide a lot of opportunity for brand differentiation.
- minikites 11y ago
  It's pretty easy to grow basil or change your car's oil but Olive Garden and Jiffy Lube are still in business.
  - saturdaysaint 11y ago
    Would that be true if basil was going for $200 an ounce?
- chiph 11y ago
  One day, perhaps General Mills will get into it, most likely via acquisition, and move cannabis edibles into their established brands. Like a "Get Baked with Betty Crocker" product line.
- nickik 11y ago
  Many things are easy, most of those things we don't do our self. Having the plane is not the endgame, you need to make it consumable. Far easier to by a pack of joints or brownies just like normal brownies or cigarettes. I also think there is money to be made in things like coffee shops, Amsterdam style.
  - saturdaysaint 11y ago
    True. I just suspect that it's closer in terms of technical complexity to growing tomatoes or selling tomato sauce than it is to making beer. And, yeah, I'm sure a lot of investors will jump at the chance to invest in the "Prego" or "Classico" or even "GardenFresh" of pot. But I also suspect that if tomato sauce was $100 a jar, there would be a much more robust community of homegrowers. I just find the economics/incentives fun to think about.
kazinator 11y ago
To test whether the war on drugs has ended, try starting a cottage industry around cocaine production. Doh! All that is happening, essentially, is that marijuana is being reclassified as a new form of alcohol. That makes it okay with conservatives, who are okay with alcohol, by and large. So, nothing is really changing. The WOD will end when you can legally get any substance you want. Including any legitimate pharmaceutical, without a damned prescription.
- rdudek 11y ago
  Don't forget the taxes part! Conservatives are pretty OK taxing it.
pinaceae 11y ago
so this means that the previous generation of distributors, african-americans who all went to jail, were simply ahead of their times. now that the whites have changed the rules, all big entrepreneurs in this area are white. note also which states have started this.

71 points by carlchenet 11y ago

The war on drugs is not ending. Marijuana is the only thing people want to legalize. 80-90% want to keep everything else illegal. That is a problem. Legalized marijuana will surely cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids, but that'll remove the exigency from the injustice that continues to play out in other parts of the system.

cyphax 11y ago
But Marijuana is a gateway-drug. ;) So perhaps legalizing it and letting that situation become the new normal will open the door to people taking another look at the rest of drugs and how to properly deal with the problems they can cause.
- chilon 11y ago
  > Marijuana is a gateway-drug The gateway drug theory has been discredited, doesn't stop right-wingers bringing it out at every opportunity though.
  - golergka 11y ago
    I think that it might have been sarcasm.
  - teddyuk 11y ago
    I am not sure why people think it is perfectly fine, there are serious mental health risks associated with it. I am probably the only person on HN who thinks that legalization is a bad thing - I used to smoke a lot and strong marijuana definitely caused me issues and I really wouldn't recommend anyone else abuse it to the levels that I did.
    - jnbiche 11y ago
      You had a bad reaction to some substance and so you want to make it illegal for anyone else to consume it, even if most people don't have a bad reaction to it and can moderate? And throw them in jail to rot if they don't comply? I can't understand this attitude. I had some problems because of alcohol and now abstain (and have for 10 years), but I'm not in favor of re-enacting prohibition. I'm totally fine with people drinking, it's just not a good idea for me. (btw, I don't use marijuana, either)
      - teddyuk 11y ago
        ok, I suppose what I am against is the commerialization of it - cigarrettes have made corporations like BAT significant amounts of money and killed significant amounts of people - investing in products that seek to sell them will produce companies whose aim is to sell them / create profit - that is bad when the products they are selling have harmful side effects. Make it legal / Ensure people know the risks / Do not create corporate entities who have taken investment and have a responsibility to shareholders to make money as that is bad.
    - dylanjermiah 11y ago
      I don't smoke or drink, but I believe in complete legalisation. Individuals, as long as they're not hurting anyone, should decide what to do with their own bodies. The war on drugs has caused more harm than the drugs would have themselves. Countless lives lost and trillions of dollars wasted. For what? More people than ever use the substances. The 'war' has kept the cartels in business, inflated their prices and degraded the quality of the product. The war on drugs hasn't progressed anything, only destroyed.
      - rayiner 11y ago
        > I don't smoke or drink, but I believe in complete legalisation. Individuals, as long as they're not hurting anyone, should decide what to do with their own bodies. I'm curious: do you believe in a social safety net? Do you believe society has an obligation to ensure that everyone has their basic needs met? If so, how do you reconcile that belief with the idea that individuals have no reciprocal obligation to society to abstain from using products that are harmful, and which cause addictions that hurt not only the individual users, but their families and loved ones?
  - jnbiche 11y ago
    He/she was making a play on words. Marijuana policy would be a "gateway" to a new, rational approach to drug policy.
- saiya-jin 11y ago
  make alcohol illegal and you have a new gateway drug
Nursie 11y ago
I can see this going one of two ways. Optimistic - people in mainstream society realise cannabis is not destroying society and slowly come to appreciate that alcohol is not the only drug, and that drugs (and drug users) aren't the devil. The edifice comes tumbling down and we start looking at drug policy (and our massive drug-related budget) in terms of harm reduction. Pessimistic - the largest group of drug users is brought into the fold of the mainstream. The idea of 'hard' and 'soft' drugs is reinforced and users of anything other than cannabis and alcohol are pushed even further into the category of 'other'. Drug-war resources used against cannabis are diverted into continuing to make everything worse for everyone when it comes to all other drugs. Central and South America and West Africa continue to get torn apart by cartels feeding off Europe and North America's insatiable appetite for cocaine. Other parts of the world that have the raw materials for other drugs (sassafras, poppies) go the same way (if they haven't already). NPS with unknown health profiles continue to be churned out and consumed by the kiloton. Unfortunately I think the pessimists probably have the right of this one for the next several years at least.
- shalmanese 11y ago
  third way: Mainstream users largely move away from consuming illegal drugs into abusing prescription drugs. The drug marketplace becomes a confusing grey market of legitimate, semi-legitimate and completely illegitimate usage of the same substances.
  - vidarh 11y ago
    > The drug marketplace becomes a confusing grey market of legitimate, semi-legitimate and completely illegitimate usage of the same substances. Largely like today, then. E.g. the largest gateway to heroin use is prescription opioids (which are far more expensive to buy on the black market than it is to buy equivalent doses of heroin from your friendly neighbourhood dealer; and in some countries heroin too is provided on prescription - e.g. in the UK, in addition to occasionally being made available to addicts, it is used as legitimate pain relief for post operative pain though I believe only for inpatient use)
- saturdaysaint 11y ago
EiZei 11y ago
It's still nearly half of the drug arrests in the US.
bilbo0s 11y ago
"...cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids..." Law enforcement eases up on suburban white kids in any case. Legalization will actually help the kids who are normally given more harsh punishments for possession. The fact that they will be given the most harsh punishment combined with the fact that marijuana is the drug of choice for the urban youth demographic is what leads to the disparities we see when we view amalgamations of the data.
- chimeracoder 11y ago
  > The fact that they will be given the most harsh punishment combined with the fact that marijuana is the drug of choice for the urban youth demographic is what leads to the disparities we see when we view amalgamations of the data. Sadly, no - it will just change which drugs are used to vilify racial minorities and justify their incarceration. I wish that weren't the case, but I've seen this pattern play out far too many times over the last century to think that it won't happen again. FWIW: I used to work in drug policy reform, so while I won't pretend to know everything, I'm not just commenting as a casual observer, and I would love for history to prove me wrong this time. EDIT: Since people seem to disagree, let's look at the history that brought us the initial criminalization of marijuana in the first place (profit-driven motives, capitalizing on xenophobia of Mexican immigrants), the criminalization of the opium trade (ditto, but for Chinese immigrants[0]), the criminalization of crack cocaine over powder cocaine (race-driven hysteria over the form of the drug perceived to be more "black"[1]), and so on, and so forth. Or, if you want to extend this argument further, let's look at the pharmaceutical cycle. Not everyone knows this, but heroin was originally a trademark name for a drug. Furthermore, the reason that heroin was originally produced was in response to the use of morphine by (and I quote) "ruffians". Heroin was actually originally intended to be the less-addictive alternative. Take a look at who the so-called "ruffians" were, and you'll see this cycle continue all over again. [0] we're talking just about the US, but you can extend this to former colonies as well if you want [1] Look at the propaganda about crack that was coterminous with a peak in (powder) cocaine usage among the wealthy white demographics, and it becomes pretty clear.
  - lkbm 11y ago
dylanjermiah 11y ago
Hopefully marijuana legalisation acts as a stepping stone to further reform, and ideally (to me) complete legalisation of everything.
venomsnake 11y ago
I thought that white suburban kids were already pretty much immune against actions for small amounts of marijuana possession. The whole war on drugs was always thinly veiled as pretext for oppression of blacks/hispanics/poor.
fweespeech 11y ago
I don't see this as much of a problem as you do. Except for the pill poppers, who could probably be managed better than they are now and a few other drugs that are in line with Marijuana... Meth, for instance, greatly accelerates the damage of a number of degenerative diseases [e.g. HIV] on top of the more commonly discussed effects.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
>Legalized marijuana will surely cause cops to ease up on suburban white kids Pot is hugely prevalent in the black community. This is what I hate about the uber-politically correct attitudes popular here. If we weren't discussing legal pot, we would be discussing how illegal pot is ruining the black community. Now that we're legalizing pot, we can't just pretend this isn't a win for them. Hell, its a net win for every socio-economic group in my opinion. Not to mention suburban white kids weren't getting shit from the cops to begin with. They were getting breaks or their parents' wealth and influence kept them out of trouble if they did actually run afoul of the law. > 80-90% want to keep everything else illegal. That is a problem. No its not. Strongly physically addictive drugs cause social harm. We're not legalizing heroin or cocaine or meth. The number of people who consider those drugs harmless that need to be made legal immediately are a tiny extremist minority with zero political power. That's the system working the same way its working now to make pot legal because attitudes have changed greatly in the past few decades. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with things like MDMA and psychedlics, but we need to make baby steps first with pot. Pretending legal pot is bad policy just because you can't buy a gallon of liquid acid at Walmart is asinine. I think so many internet commentors have internalized negativity for things like upvotes and attention that they literally cannot applaud a good thing when its happening. Its sad to see all these sour attitudes here at HN and reddit. The realistic alternative here isn't some paradise of legal everything; its more drug war nonsense. This is our first step to stop the drug war. It should be applauded as such.
kw71 11y ago
Since cannabis is well known to be mostly harmless, and much more harmless than alcohol, it seems like a good start. LSD might be in this category too. There are other ones that have value in medical, psychiatric and therapeutic settings, and definitely should not be completely banned simply because of their potential to cause harm. Another class offers zero benefit or unreasonably small benefit for the risks. "Bath salts" anyone? We have more socialism in the USA than many people realize and as long as I am paying taxes I'd prefer to not have to pay for unnecessary tragedies, second only to my wish to not fund the military and spies. We have to pay for quite a bit of emergency room care, social security death benefit, mental health or domestic violence counseling, etc. already due to the abuse of alcohol.

kephra 11y ago

I've heard rumors, that Monsanto is behind the legalization of marijuana, planing to sell seeds, fertilizers and herbicides. Is there any truth behind this rumor?

Nursie 11y ago
It would not surprise me if many large agri-tech companies had plans for if/when it becomes fully legal from production to consumption in more places. However I have definitely heard lots of conspiracy-theory type stuff coming from the more crunchy end of the pro-pot spectrum. Some of them even actively resist legalisation because they don't want 'corporations' involved in the trade. Personally, I think the greater virtue is getting rid of our terrible laws and war on drugs, we can sort out marketplace ethics later.
- EiZei 11y ago
  It amazes me that some people prefer the DEA and for-profit prisons to corporations. At least Monsanto doesn't show up in your home unannounced in the middle of the night and shoot your dog.
  - sageabilly 11y ago
    Not unless you're growing corn without a license.
Agathos 11y ago
There is only one lab in the US with a federal license to grow marijuana. It isn't Monsanto. So I doubt Monsanto has a stock of superior seeds, just ready to take over the market. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/18/government.marijuana.garden/index.html?eref=rss_us http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/18/government.marijuana.gar...
matwood 11y ago
I'm sure every agg company + tobacco have plans for when/if marijuana becomes legal on the federal level. It is simply good business sense to be ready.

pmlnr 11y ago

2015 - also known as After Ford 107 http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html

kolbe 11y ago
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the US has been going the way of BNW for a long time. This whole time we've been scared of 1984 being imposed on us that we've let BNW naturally creep in.

VeejayRampay 11y ago

From my European perspective, the equation looks simple: In the U.S., money talks. And it's loud. If the figures showing up from the states of Washington and Colorado (there are others) are good and they mean people are making boatloads of cash with that crop, legalization will spread like wildfire. It is one of the good aspects of a more deregulated market after all.

chimeracoder 11y ago
> From my European perspective, the equation looks simple: In the U.S., money talks. This is true literally everywhere in the world. Some places may be more up front about it and others may try to hide it more, but in the end, everyone is subject to the same constraints of economics.
- VeejayRampay 11y ago
  It is indeed true of pretty much everywhere in the world. But the people in the United States have, in my opinion and understanding of the world, a more natural tendency towards cold mercantilism where the personal feelings don't take precedence over good business models and potential financial gain. It is a trait that I believe is true of many protestant-based, trading-infused societies (like the UK, the Netherlands and others). That should have read: "Money talks everywhere, but even more so in the U.S".
rayiner 11y ago
Americans care a lot more about ideals (though often ones that are in retrospect misguided) than money. For example, in the decades preceding Prohibition, 30-40% of the federal government's income came from excise taxes on alcohol: http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-taxes-enabled-alcohol-prohibition-and-also-led-its-repeal http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-taxes-enabled-alcohol-proh.... Prohibition overnight eliminated that revenue. The government gave up a lot of money to indulge moralistic fervor.

saturdaysaint 11y ago

Funny, it's practically an old hippy canard that there wouldn't be much money to be made if it were legal. I'm sure that there's money to be made somewhere, but this is a pretty easy plant to grow/cultivate if it's ever legal to have a few plants in your backyard - far easier than brewing your own beer. My guess is that the money will go into building a few solid brands. I wouldn't be surprised if edibles were the focus here, too - they're much easier to make at scale than by individuals, a lot of people probably prefer eating to smoking, and they provide a lot of opportunity for brand differentiation.

minikites 11y ago
It's pretty easy to grow basil or change your car's oil but Olive Garden and Jiffy Lube are still in business.
- saturdaysaint 11y ago
  Would that be true if basil was going for $200 an ounce?
chiph 11y ago
One day, perhaps General Mills will get into it, most likely via acquisition, and move cannabis edibles into their established brands. Like a "Get Baked with Betty Crocker" product line.
nickik 11y ago
Many things are easy, most of those things we don't do our self. Having the plane is not the endgame, you need to make it consumable. Far easier to by a pack of joints or brownies just like normal brownies or cigarettes. I also think there is money to be made in things like coffee shops, Amsterdam style.
- saturdaysaint 11y ago
  True. I just suspect that it's closer in terms of technical complexity to growing tomatoes or selling tomato sauce than it is to making beer. And, yeah, I'm sure a lot of investors will jump at the chance to invest in the "Prego" or "Classico" or even "GardenFresh" of pot. But I also suspect that if tomato sauce was $100 a jar, there would be a much more robust community of homegrowers. I just find the economics/incentives fun to think about.

kazinator 11y ago

To test whether the war on drugs has ended, try starting a cottage industry around cocaine production. Doh! All that is happening, essentially, is that marijuana is being reclassified as a new form of alcohol. That makes it okay with conservatives, who are okay with alcohol, by and large. So, nothing is really changing. The WOD will end when you can legally get any substance you want. Including any legitimate pharmaceutical, without a damned prescription.

rdudek 11y ago
Don't forget the taxes part! Conservatives are pretty OK taxing it.

pinaceae 11y ago

so this means that the previous generation of distributors, african-americans who all went to jail, were simply ahead of their times. now that the whites have changed the rules, all big entrepreneurs in this area are white. note also which states have started this.