subject: Marijuana Farms in the US Midwest Not Far Off [print this page] Someday in the very near future while taking a drive through the US Midwest you look out your window and in between the vast corn and soybean fields you see something that looks different but is still very familiar. Once you pull over for a closer look and see that there are rows and rows of marijuana plants a feeling of nostalgia takes over. It is of course legal now and just another futures contract trading on the commodities market alongside cotton, corn and soybeans.
Hemp has more uses than the peanut and is easier to grow and does much less damage to top soil than corn, beans and wheat. I know many farmers who would love to repair their soil and grow this simple crop, and someday they will have this option.
California residents will vote in November on whether or not to legalize marijuana. If they vote "yes," saysHarvard economics professor Jeffrey Miron in the interview below, that should only be the beginning.
"Legalizing drugs would save roughly $41.3 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. Of these savings, $25.7 billion would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government," Miron claims in a recent Cato Institute report he co-authored.
According to their website, "The report also estimates that drug legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco. Approximately $8.7 billion of this revenue would result from legalization of marijuana and $38.0 billion from legalization of other drugs."
These are pretty strong numbers - especially being voiced from a Harvard economics professor - but when will the declining majority give in and open this untapped revenue stream up to farmers, medical professionals, taxpayers and the everyday consumer? Probably much sooner than we think and, as I said before, once it becomes legal Farmers will have no problem lining their rows with Hemp plants because as long as the bottom line is favorable, the rest will take care of itself. It's all about the yield and maintaining a healthy level of topsoil.
