FruityBud
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Supporters of legalizing marijuana and officers charged with seizing it have different opinions about the drug, but they agree on one point: It's a valuable crop.
Just how valuable, however, is another point of contention.
In two recent seizures in California's Tulare and Fresno counties, officials destroyed thousands of plants they said were worth $7.2 million.
That estimate was based on a formula used by the California Department of Justice: on average, each plant would yield a pound of usable marijuana over its remaining lifetime, and a pound of marijuana is worth about $4,000 when sold in small quantities on the street.
While marijuana advocates generally agree with authorities on the value of a pound of marijuana, they disagree that each plant yields a pound of pot. They say authorities should measure the actual marijuana seized, rather than make assumptions about a plant's lifetime potential.
Keith Stroup, legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, better known as NORML, calls the values police put on seizures "self-serving."
"What would make more sense would be to weigh the buds," which are the part of the marijuana plant where the intoxicant, a chemical called THC, is located, Stroup said.
Authorities in the Coulee Region this week announced they'd uncovered two large marijuana-growing operations in Monroe County that yielded what they maintain was millions of dollars worth of plants.
A search Sept. 22-23 turned up 401 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $802,000 near Elroy; the grower had destroyed about $2.5 million in plants on a nearby property before it could be searched, said Monroe County Sheriff Dennis Pedersen.
Authorities Sept. 29 also located 1,297 marijuana plants, with an estimated value of $2.6 million, at a property north of Tomah.
Determining the value of marijuana seized in Wisconsin tends to be based on the street price, which can fluctuate depending on supply and demand, said Jeff Kostner, a senior special agent with Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation.
"If someone has a good product for sale and there's a large demand for it, they're going to get a lot for it," said Pedersen.
Drug dealers set that price, taking into account the quality and THC level, said La Crosse County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Papenfuss. Law enforcement rely on informants and information from arrests to keep track of marijuana's shifting prices.
Hippie-era marijuana users would find today's genetically enhanced drug much more potent - and thus more expensive.
The cost of marijuana 40 years ago - generally $10 per ounce - is about 30 times more expensive today, according to Panama Red, who blogs on the pro-marijuana Web site budlife420.com
Papenfuss agreed. "The price on marijuana has gone up exponentially over 20 years," he said.
A pound of marijuana worth about $4,000 today cost only $800 to $1,000 then, he said.
Wisconsin has the added effect that prices can spike in the colder months, as that kills off outdoor growing operations, Kostner said - unless an outside dealer floods the market.
"It's a diminishing product," he said. "You can't hold on to it forever."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yjrp9fo
Just how valuable, however, is another point of contention.
In two recent seizures in California's Tulare and Fresno counties, officials destroyed thousands of plants they said were worth $7.2 million.
That estimate was based on a formula used by the California Department of Justice: on average, each plant would yield a pound of usable marijuana over its remaining lifetime, and a pound of marijuana is worth about $4,000 when sold in small quantities on the street.
While marijuana advocates generally agree with authorities on the value of a pound of marijuana, they disagree that each plant yields a pound of pot. They say authorities should measure the actual marijuana seized, rather than make assumptions about a plant's lifetime potential.
Keith Stroup, legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, better known as NORML, calls the values police put on seizures "self-serving."
"What would make more sense would be to weigh the buds," which are the part of the marijuana plant where the intoxicant, a chemical called THC, is located, Stroup said.
Authorities in the Coulee Region this week announced they'd uncovered two large marijuana-growing operations in Monroe County that yielded what they maintain was millions of dollars worth of plants.
A search Sept. 22-23 turned up 401 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $802,000 near Elroy; the grower had destroyed about $2.5 million in plants on a nearby property before it could be searched, said Monroe County Sheriff Dennis Pedersen.
Authorities Sept. 29 also located 1,297 marijuana plants, with an estimated value of $2.6 million, at a property north of Tomah.
Determining the value of marijuana seized in Wisconsin tends to be based on the street price, which can fluctuate depending on supply and demand, said Jeff Kostner, a senior special agent with Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation.
"If someone has a good product for sale and there's a large demand for it, they're going to get a lot for it," said Pedersen.
Drug dealers set that price, taking into account the quality and THC level, said La Crosse County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Papenfuss. Law enforcement rely on informants and information from arrests to keep track of marijuana's shifting prices.
Hippie-era marijuana users would find today's genetically enhanced drug much more potent - and thus more expensive.
The cost of marijuana 40 years ago - generally $10 per ounce - is about 30 times more expensive today, according to Panama Red, who blogs on the pro-marijuana Web site budlife420.com
Papenfuss agreed. "The price on marijuana has gone up exponentially over 20 years," he said.
A pound of marijuana worth about $4,000 today cost only $800 to $1,000 then, he said.
Wisconsin has the added effect that prices can spike in the colder months, as that kills off outdoor growing operations, Kostner said - unless an outside dealer floods the market.
"It's a diminishing product," he said. "You can't hold on to it forever."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yjrp9fo
