Gettman

Gettman said people are "flocking" to hydroponic suppliers.

Boutique buds: What underground mom-and-pop growers did while we debated legalization Adrian Higgins 2010

Gettman, who is also coordinator of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, seeking to relax federal marijuana laws, says the government's assertion that most indoor cannabis cultivation is undertaken by Asian organizations is "ridiculous."

Boutique buds: What underground mom-and-pop growers did while we debated legalization Adrian Higgins 2010

Jon Gettman, a criminal justice scholar, used this figure to argue that marijuana had become the nation's biggest cash crop, with a conservative value of $35 billion at a time when the corn harvest was $23 billion and soybeans $17.6 billion.

Boutique buds: What underground mom-and-pop growers did while we debated legalization Adrian Higgins 2010

Gettman, who teaches at Shenandoah University and lives in Lovettsville, Va., calls it the "atomization" of marijuana cultivation that fuels a singularly American fixation for growing crops to maximize yield.

Boutique buds: What underground mom-and-pop growers did while we debated legalization Adrian Higgins 2010

According to Gettman, the retail value of the total U.S. marijuana market now stands at a whopping $113 billion per year.

Paul Armentano: A Different Kind Of Tea Party! 2009

Using data on the number of pounds eradicated by police around the U.S., Gettman produced estimates of the likely size and value of the cannabis crop in each state.

Archive 2006-12-01 Annie 2006

California also is among nine states that produce more cannabis than residents consumed, Gettman estimates.

Archive 2006-12-01 Annie 2006

California also is among nine states that produce more cannabis than residents consumed, Gettman estimates.

legalize it, already! Annie 2006

Gettman used government estimates that growers produce more than 10,000 metric tons of marijuana annually.

America goes to Pot and Prisons 2006

"Despite years of effort by law enforcement, they're not getting rid of it," Gettman said.

Archive 2006-12-01 Annie 2006