There is no doubt recent years have been hard times for America's farmers. And that's especially true of the one group who receives no agricultural subsidies from the government and no proceeds from Farm Aid (unless you count loyal patronage of Willie Nelson).
J. has operated marijuana grow rooms indoors in various locations around Las Vegas since 1999. On a recent weekend hanging out with one of the wholesale buyers of his product, K., the conversation between the two men floated around fond reminiscences of crops past and present with names like Johnny Law, Strawberry Cough, Purple Kush and Afghooey.
But these days, costs are up sharply for those like J. trying to operate a grow room in the Las Vegas area. According to J., "Electricity is up, and nutrient and equipment have always been expensive." And, of course, most of all, the real-estate boom in Las Vegas has driven up the costs of finding a place to dedicate to growing pot plants—growers tend for security reasons to not want to live in the same unit their plants are kept: "Nowadays, mortgage payments are rising through the roof!" J. complains.
According to J., the economics work as follows: "A typical room with four lights averages maybe six pounds every two months." But not every crop comes through even if the police don't bust you. "You got to watch out for spider mites, a predator of the plants that can destroy your whole crop. If you're doing hydroponics you can get a rock stuck in a pump and then you get no water and then the lamps are still on the plants for a certain number of days or even hours, and you fry them." Problems are especially acute during this time of year, when the hot summer months pose a serious threat to plants even for those grown indoors. "It's hard to keep the rooms cool when you have 1,000-watt lightbulbs."
But consumers of marijuana will be happy to know that none of these rising costs have resulted in a price rise for pot locally, at least on the wholesale level. J. laments: "Six years ago you could get $6,400 a pound. Today you are lucky you get $5,000 for a pound."
K., the buyer, laughs: "If you know where to look you can find cheaper than $5,000."
To which J. groans.
Of course, just like other farmers, J. must also deal with cheaper foreign imports coming across the border from Canada and Mexico. This is true even of the high-end marijuana in which J. specializes (in the ultimate in career status, photographs of J.'s buds have repeatedly been featured in the pages of High Times magazine). J., however, sees the primary problem as the proliferation of other local growers. Ironically, J. blames this rise in competition on the trend to decriminalize pot and the change to a misdemeanor for possessing under an ounce. "People seem more at ease doing it. A lot of people don't go to jail for a first offense. They will most likely go to a drug court, then a program and probation." Not that this is guaranteed for someone caught growing any quantity: "The Federal law is the main thing you have to worry about."
As for Nevada's medical marijuana laws, J. has not noticed that they've resulted in any increase of his business: "I don't think it has an impact. The way it's done here, you have to go apply to the state and not many people want to give up their medical records to the state. It works in California, because it ends at the doctor's office."
Also, thanks to the Internet, it has become a lot easier for a person with no green thumb or knowledge to get into growing pot: "You can go to websites where everybody puts in questions and people answer them for you. It's a pretty big forum and the whole world now has access to expert growing advice, whereas you once needed to know somebody to teach you."