Medical Marijuana States
As emotions over medical marijuana and the locations, and numbers of the dispensaries allowed heats up in every city across the state of California… There is still no greater place to live. In one afternoon a properly documented marijuana patients can visit a marijuana doctor, be evaluated, and with 30 min be on his or her way looking for their new favorite medical cannabis club. Of which there are more than a few to choose from.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that on Monday, a 34-year-old Apple Valley, Minn., man was arrested and jailed for allegedly growing more than 1,200 marijuana plants in his home. Police were tipped off when the electric company responded to a burned out transformer outside the man's home and found he had tapped into the electric line ahead of the meter, apparently to power grow lights for his crop without suspiciously affecting his electrical bill.
According to the Tribune, Dakota County Drug Task Force officers removed 1,264 marijuana plants from the man's house on Saturday. On Monday the man returned to the home and was subsequently arrested; charges are pending.
Although this is a significant bust, it does not rival one of Minnesota's largest marijuana busts that took place about eight years ago. In that incident, federal and state agents raided a Vernon County farm and seized more than 4,000 marijuana plants. The husband and wife team responsible for the marijuana crop were ultimately sentenced to prison for 10 years and three years, respectively.
In December 2005, four individuals were arrested in Washington County, Minn., after approximately 2,400 marijuana plants were seized from three separate houses. This marijuana growing operation was estimated to produce about a million dollars worth of pot a year, according to KARE 11 TV.
According to state public health officials, marijuana remains the most commonly used and readily available illegal drug in Minnesota. The importation of bulk marijuana shipments into the state is controlled by Mexican drug trafficking organizations, but large quantities of marijuana are also readily available from local cultivators, who sell to street-level distributors.
Each year thousands of marijuana plants are seized from numerous indoor and outdoor growing operations across the nation. And the major indoor marijuana-growing operations, such as that in Apple Valley, are serious business. Major in-home growers use sophisticated hydroponics cultivation techniques, including high-tech equipment to electronically regulate temperature and light and plant feeding.
According to Drug Science, American marijuana growers produced 22.3 million pounds of marijuana in 2006 with a value of $35.8 billion. These figures include both outdoor and indoor crops. Outdoor marijuana growers produced 56.4 million plants worth $31.7 billion; indoor growers produced 11.7 million plants worth $4.1 billion. California was the top producer of both outdoor and indoor marijuana plants worth more than $1 billion. Most of the marijuana cultivated in the United States is for local, in-state use.
Despite the fact that Minnesota's drug of choice is marijuana, Minnesota is not in the top 10 producers nationwide.
Source:
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Huge pot-growing operation busted in Apple Valley;http://www.startribune.com/crime/story/1255352.html
KARE 11 TV, Four arrested, thousands of pot plants seized; http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=114190
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