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[From:  http://www.pantless.com/~pdxnorml/No1_Crop_0486.html]
[America's #1 Crop - Marijuana Tops the Charts, from High Times, April
1986. Oregon's domestic marijuana crop is estimated to be worth $1
billion to $1.15 billion. Includes subsequent research showing the
DEA's 1992 nationwide estimate of the the domestic marijuana harvest
had more than doubled NORML's 1986 figures, suggesting Oregon's 1992
harvest was worth at least $2 billion to $2.3 billion. However,
additional comments by former national NORML Director Jon Gettman
explain that NORML during the same period gradually reduced its
estimates of the value of domestic production to figures far below
the government's, primarily due to the DEA's optimistic assumption
that each sinsemilla plant produced two pounds of commercial pot.
It might help while perusing this file to remember that almost every
figure herein is based on conjecture. So long as prohibition continues,
nobody can estimate proscribed behaviors or amounts of supposedly
"controlled" substances with any confidence. Still, it's only natural
to try. We've done our best here with the documents at hand, but truth
is an approximation. Please send us additional research or other
relevant comments or corrections if you can add anything helpful.]
America's #1 Crop - Marijuana Tops the Charts
High Times, April 1986, pp. 48-49.
http://www.hightimes.com
According to figures recently released by The National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), our current administration's
heartfelt plans for the eradication of marijuana have gone awry.
Thanks to a bumper marijuana harvest, increased indoor growing, and a
drop in the price of corn, an illegal crop has become our country's
most valuable crop for the first time in history. It is, however, not
the sort of groundbreaking trend the Drug Enforcement Agency has been
hoping for.
NORML estimated the worth of the 1985 harvest at $18.6 billion, a
$2 billion increase over 1984. California, Hawaii and Oregon are by
far the largest producers. Also increasing is the percentage of
marijuana grown in the United States versus the amount imported from
abroad. Last year, 60% of the marijuana sold in this country was home-
grown, an increase of 5% over 1984.
NORML's figures are based on a careful "trend analysis" of advertising,
grow light sales, sales of marijuana grow books, local media reports,
personal interviews, and agricultural conditions.
Estimated Agricultural Crop Values In The United States, 1985
     Crop                                $ Value of Production
 1  Marijuana                                 18,600,000,000
 2  Corn for Grain                            18,582,500,000
 3  Soybeans                                  10,183,500,000
 4  Hay                                        9,980,500,000
 5  Wheat                                      7,256,500,000
 6  Sorghum                                    3,820,500,000
 7  Cotton                                     3,705,100,000
 8  Tobacco                                    2,744,800,000
 9  Potatoes                                   1,363,400,000
10  Rice                                       1,014,000,000
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture - Crop Reporting Board,
Agricultural Prices, Washington, D.C., October 31, 1985.
U.S. Department of Agriculture - Crop Reporting Board, Crop Production,
Washington, D.C., October 10, 1985.
All prices are farmgate prices, i.e., prices received by farmers.
*Marijuana crop value is estimated by the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) from published reports, news
articles, personal interviews, law enforcement estimates, trend
analysis, consumer analysis and grower analysis.
Portland NORML notes:
The color graphic that dominates the original April 1986 High
Times article might get scanned and posted here someday, but in
the meantime a description will have to suffice. The graphic shows
a map of all 50 states, with seven different colors denoting the
"Estimated Value Marijuana Crops 1985 ($1000) Per State." No
weight figures are provided.
Only one state, California, is denoted by the color orange-red,
representing the highest of the seven values, 2,550,000. Thus one
can infer that NORML's estimate for the value of California's crop
in 1985 was $2.55 billion.
Only two states, Oregon and Hawaii, are colored red-magenta, denoting
the second-highest of the seven values, 1,000,000-1,150,000. Thus one
can infer NORML's estimate for the value of the domestic marijuana
harvest in Oregon in 1985 was between $1 billion and $1.15 billion.
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