Marijuana illegal grow houses in Colorado Springs (sales, apartment)

[Vision67]

Today the Gazette had an article about the illegal MJ grow houses in the Colorado Springs.

Springs Mayor: Day of reckoning coming for city's illegal marijuana growers | Colorado Springs Gazette, News

The part that surprised me was the magnitude of potential profits:

"The dollar signs have out-of-staters moving here by the droves to cash in, officials say.

To put it into perspective, five people each growing 99 plants would produce about 495 pounds of marijuana every 90 days, or about 1,980 pounds a year. That can be sold locally for a profit of about $3.9 million, officials said. It can be sold out of state illegally for a whopping $7.9 million.

"That's why they're willing to take that chance" to cultivate illegal grows, Lucero said."

That means just one person growing 99 plants per year in his basement could potentially make a local profit of $65K per month.

Grow just one plant and make $656 per month??

That's not too hard. It's a weed.

Wow.

I had no idea....

[Robert5]

Originally Posted by Vision67

To put it into perspective, five people each growing 99 plants would produce about 495 pounds of marijuana every 90 days, or about 1,980 pounds a year. That can be sold locally for a profit of about $3.9 million, officials said. It can be sold out of state illegally for a whopping $7.9 million..

I have never grown or sold MJ. But I know that "officials" regardless of context will greatly exaggerate the dollar value of any drug in order to amp the importance of their own job. And hence I don't believe the numbers they quote.

[BornintheSprings]

Just allow people to grow unlimited amounts it's a plant plus think of all the tax revenue that could be collected if these grow ops were part of the system.

[TCHP]

I'd also say they oversimplified the ability to resell locally. Any decent shop won't risk their revenue stream by picking up homegrown from Joe's apartment.They are all using licensed grow operations that are highly regulated.

I think the bigger problem is because the permissable grow limits attract out of staters that are moving here and exploiting the rule then exporting to illegal sales outside the state. However, it also has given law enforcement the easiest method ever to track grow ops. No undercover ops required, no infiltrating organizations, simply call the utility department and subpeona their billing history.

[Raddo]

Originally Posted by Robert5

I have never grown or sold MJ. But I know that "officials" regardless of context will greatly exaggerate the dollar value of any drug in order to amp the importance of their own job. And hence I don't believe the numbers they quote.

I have growing experience that goes back over 20 years, and I can state that Robert5 is exactly right.

I think that is why they went with 99 plants and 495 pounds. It is an effort to obfuscate their claims, and it usually works quite well with non-thinking people.

If they had said 100 plants and 500 pounds, it is simple to do the math in your head. It is 5 pounds per plant. That is ridiculous. For indoor grown plants that is exaggerated by 10 to 15 times the amount possible every 90 days.

I hate that about our legal system. It seems that it is the law enforcement official's job to exaggerate the charges by as much as they can get away with, and the defense lawyer's job to exaggerate the other side as much as possible, leaving judges to try to sort it out.

Whatever happened to the truth?

[Rainbow Demon]

Where I grew up in Missouri there were a multitude of country roads that had wild hemp (aka "ditchweed") growing along each side of the road for miles. In mid summer it would be 15 ft tall and have big, seeded tops on it....

Routinely there would be news reports of folks who were caught heading "back home" (wherever that was) with their trunks stuff full of this worthless weed that wouldn't get you high if you smoked the entire trunk full. You would get a raging headache though....

Even so...when someone was caught trying to export and make their fortune... the local cops would assess the valuation of the take and we'd see headlines like this "2 million dollars worth of marijuana seized in traffic stop".

We could only laugh...

[Raddo]

^^^ And some people wonder why LEO's command such a lack of respect. ^^^

It's as embarrassing as the US government continuing to list cannabis as a Schedule I drug.

[Vision67]

If MJ was legalized nationally, local pot growing would probably stop.

I'm sure the same friendly folks who now manufacture cigarettes could switch to pot and make the stuff far more efficiently than local growers.

Personally, I don't care about the stuff and have no desire to even try it again. But I would be concerned if I had neighbors growing it in high volumes and polluting the neighborhood.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by Vision67

If MJ was legalized nationally, local pot growing would probably stop.

I'm sure the same friendly folks who now manufacture cigarettes could switch to pot and make the stuff far more efficiently than local growers.

Personally, I don't care about the stuff and have no desire to even try it again. But I would be concerned if I had neighbors growing it in high volumes and polluting the neighborhood.

Large scale illegal grows would stop if people could grow their own at home. I don't think there would be much money in it for tobacco companies; why pay for something that can be easily grown at home?

[Raddo]

Originally Posted by Vision67

If MJ was legalized nationally, local pot growing would probably stop.

I'm sure the same friendly folks who now manufacture cigarettes could switch to pot and make the stuff far more efficiently than local growers.

Personally, I don't care about the stuff and have no desire to even try it again. But I would be concerned if I had neighbors growing it in high volumes and polluting the neighborhood.

Actually, that's not true. It is like craft beer. For those that have learned how to grow quality cannabis for personal use, free of pesticides or other adulterates, it can be a rewarding experience. Personally, I can't imagine getting it from any other source, other than to try different strains. If I find a strain that suits my needs particularly well, then I will buy a few seeds or a clone of that strain. After that my money stays at home, because I can then grow that same strain for many years if desired by using clones.

But you are correct, growing large quantities in neighborhoods isn't a good thing. There simply will be no need for it. As more places around the country legalize, and as tax rates stabilize at more reasonable rates, the lure of black market profits will subside, and so will illegal grows.