What do you get when you tell a population of 300 million people that you can get between $2,000 and $15,000 per marijuana plant?
Answer: You get a population of 300 million people believing that marijuana is worth somewhere between $2,000 and $15,000.

What do you expect when upwards of 20% of this population are desperately looking for a job?
Answer: A 20% of this population willing to do just about anything to feed their families and save their homes.

Now, here’s the big question…

What do you get when a large number of people willing to do just about anything read or hear in the news that a simple marijuana plant can bring them between $2,000 and $15,000 each?

Answer

More people selling pot as economy goes up in smoke

Out of work? Some folks are trying pot. Not to smoke — but to sell.

That’s the route increasing numbers of people are taking amid the worst recession in decades, according to law enforcement officials based in ganja-rich regions around the country.

Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard time

“A lot of that, we theorize, is the economy,” said Ed Shemelya, head of marijuana eradication for the Office of Drug Control Policy’s Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. “Places in east Tennessee, eastern Kentucky and West Virginia are probably feeling the recession a lot more severely than the rest of the country and have probably been in that condition a lot longer than the rest of the country.”

The Problem

Well, if you didn’t click on the linked “$15,000” in the first question, the answer is there (along with the story of Georgia cops who came up with that wild figure).

Prohibitionist Idiot #002: Lies Cops Tell

In short, purely idiotic local, state, and federal authorities that severely exaggerate the value of marijuana and the media that propagates their nonsense. It seems the value of marijuana is subject to any idiot’s imagination. If you’re ignorant of marijuana value, you’ll believe it. If you’re desperate, you’ll look for information on how to grow it.

These conditions, created by idiotic police, have backfired in the worst way possible – for prohibitionists. Now “everyone” wants to grow marijuana like it’s the gold rush of 1849 all over again. And, I am happy to help.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told The Associated Press on Monday it looks as if he’ll have to close two jails and eliminate the positions of the staff at those facilities.

“There’s no way around me cutting $71 million out of the budget that won’t affect having to close a jail or two,” Baca said. “I have to start cutting.”

Baca hasn’t finalized plans, but said he was looking at closing two of the county’s 10 jail facilities: the old central jail, which houses about 2,300 inmates; and part of another facility in Castaic in the north of the county that houses about 1,500 inmates. Violent offenders from the closed jails would be housed in other facilities.

Closing those facilities would eliminate positions for about 400 of the department’s 10,000 deputies and another 200 or so civilian jobs would be lost too. The job cuts would come primarily through a hiring freeze.

Of the inmates that would be released early, Baca said he’d first look to nonviolent offenders who are awaiting trial.

I can only see this as a good thing as it pertains to police AND marijuana reform.

gaining perspective

While I wouldn’t want to see anyone hurt by this economy, it’s an inevitable occurrence and it couldn’t happen to a “better” group of people in my opinion. Let’s be honest here folks. Police departments, along with the prison industry, are the most bloated and costly expenditure to the American taxpayer. Take for example, in 2007, there were about 872,000 marijuana-based arrests [Drug Sense via FBI]. These are the arrests that the former drug czar, John Walters, claims didn’t happen. He called them unicorns because he said they didn’t exist. Obviously, there are about 872,000 unicorns in 2007 alone. At any rate, that’s one dirty, lying cop that I am glad to see gone.

let’s talk numbers

But, I digress. I want people to think about the billions of dollars spent in time, man power, prison, helicopters, technology, and so on. Think about the billions of dollars that could be saved if we stop acting as if the police are doing this nation a great service by arresting and destroying the life of some lowly pothead. Think about the billions of dollars that get diverted away from hospitals, schools, and roads only to support a failed war on drugs.

Imagine that it costs $35,000 to keep a person in prison for one year (don’t get ahead of me). Now, multiply that by 872,000 lowly potheads that were arrested and imprisoned in 2007. That’s $30,000,000,000 per year to hold people who use marijuana. That’s $30,000,000,000 that could have gone to teachers, school books, afterschool programs, nurses, bridge construction, road work, and so on. That $35,000 per person could be used to hire someone for a job. That’s a potential of 872,000 jobs that could be saved nation wide. And these numbers only look at the cost of KEEPING a pothead in prison. In the United States, the war on drugs costs American taxpayers upwards of $70,000,000,000 and that’s before anyone is even arrested. WOW!

big bad pothead theory

My feelings are that if we’re going to start cutbacks here, start with the police and corrections first. Release non-violent criminals who don’t belong in prison in the first place. There’s no reason we should be spending tens of thousands per person to keep them in prison when they pose no harm to the community.

Seriously, how can a marijuana user be any more benign? Who’s afraid of the big bad pothead? Who’s afraid of the of the “deflated” chick in the anti-marijuana ad? Oh no! Watch out! She’s gonna getcha! Riiiiiiiiight! It’s laughable to say the least.

regaining perspective

I believe that this economy is going to define marijuana policy in the future. The United States finally has to prioritize it’s responsibilities to the people because times are tough. While this is possibly the crappiest reason to redefine marijuana policy, it’s about time the United States seriously addresses the incomprehensible madness that is US drug policy as a whole. I simply don’t understand how is it that a pothead, such as myself, cares more about jobs and families than a supposed normal person. How can it be considered normal to believe that jailing a pothead is more important than saving a teacher’s job or lowering the costs of medical expenses for a struggling family?

Am I, a pothead, really the problem with the United States?
You’d have to be in the Twilight Zone to believe that (or an overpaid police officer)!

This is a letter written by Andrew Lahde, hedge fund manager, quit his job after returning 866% on the investment betting against the subprime collapse. In other words, this guy made money betting that the housing market would collapse. As we all know, it collapsed in magnificent fashion. He’s rich.. very rich.

Why is he my hero?

He’s my hero because he points out some of the problems with this twisted society as a whole.

• Blind trust in “Ivy League” educations versus Competence and ability
• Government corruption (politicians being purchased like candy at the store)
• Aristocracy versus Meritocracy (Giving rewards instead of earning them)
• Willingness to NOT be greedy and just be happy

This guy made millions of dollars taking advantage of the stupid decisions by these stupid, overrated Ivy League idiots raised by nannies, butlers, and boarding schools paid for by their ultra-rich parents.

But, Mr. Lahde gets my ultimate respect with his advocacy for using hemp and dispelling the myth of marijuana as an evil substance.

However, I have to put my hero in his place. Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis Sativa. However, the difference between hemp and marijuana is not gender, it’s the THC concentration, or strength, in the female plant. While all male marijuana plants are indeed low in THC, NOT all females are high in THC. So, the difference would only be noticeable in female marijuana plants.

For example, the marijuana that comes out of Mexico is usually around 5% THC. The most potent kinds of marijuana can have THC concentrations as high as 15% to 20% but it is VERY rare as it takes OPTIMAL growing conditions to achieve that potency. Hemp has a THC concentration from under 1% to 2% at the most.
Note: Law enforcement like to claim marijuana has reach up to 30%-40% and more in an effort to scare people about “super weed”. Trust me, I wish there was marijuana that potent. It doesn’t exist.

Anyway here is the letter by my current hero, Andrew Lahde:

Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.

Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, “What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it.” I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.

There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list those deserving thanks know who they are.

I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they look forward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.

So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don’t worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer’s company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.

I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life — where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management — with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.

On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government.

Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man’s interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft’s near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.

Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won’t see it included in BP’s, “Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions,” television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM’s similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country?

Ah, the female. The evil female plant — marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other [addictive] drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let’s stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.

With that I say good-bye and good luck.

All the best,

Andrew Lahde