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Although National NORML has not tried to place a value on domestically
grown marijuana since 1993, its estimates used to be considerably more
accurate than those of the Drug Enforcement Agency. For example, in
1982 the DEA reported at the end of the year that it had eradicated
more marijuana than it had estimated Americans consumed at the
beginning of the year.
Given the DEA's results-oriented bias in reporting, it is
understandable that in 1996, as this is posted, the latest news from
the DEA ("Marijuana Information Packet," Drugs & Crime Data, April
1995, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drugs & Crime
Clearinghouse, 1-800-666-3332) does not even attempt to estimate
current domestic production. (The same packet *does*  estimate
production in many other countries, however.) Instead, the April
1995 "Marijuana Information Packet" cites only its 1992 estimate, in
inconvenient metric tonnage...:
"It is very difficult to estimate the amount of marijuana actually
produced in the United States in 1993 as there are no national
surveys conducted of outdoor cannabis cultivation. [They don't even
want to think about indoor cultivation - Portland NORML.]  In 1992,
there was an estimated gross 6,000 to 6,500 metric tons cultivated
(does not include low-potency wild ditchweed plants). However, this
figure is considered to be inexact. Approximately 1,840.2 metric
tons representing 4.04 million cultivated plants were eradicated in
1993. Domestic seizures of cannabis and marijuana totalled 394 metric
tons compared to 347 metric tons in 1992.  ("Production," p. 62, ibid.,
quoting from the National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee,
The NNICC Report 1993, The Supply of Illicit Drugs to the United
States, August 1994.)"
The same federal report, on page 60, includes a chart on "U.S.
Marijuana Prices" showing the government's estimate of the wholesale
value of sinsemilla to be $650 to $9,600 a pound in 1992 - quite a
wide range. The accompanying text states:
"During the 1980's, prices for a pound of commercial grade marijuana
ranged from $350 to $600. In 1993, the price ranged from $1,000 to
$9,500 per pound, though the sale price typically did not fall below
$1,500 a pound."
No more precise nationwide breakdown of 1992 prices is offered.
As reported in past Portland NORML weekly news releases, the price of
sinsemilla has been stable at about $250 an ounce since the early
1990s, but can frequently cost up to $350 an ounce, depending on
quality. That would mean the "retail" value of a 16-ounce pound would
be $4,000 to $5,600. Hence, an average wholesale or "farmgate" value
of $3,000 per pound for domestically grown marijuana seems a quite
reasonable, even conservative figure with which to compute the
ensuing estimates. The figure of $3,000 per pound is also near the
low end of the government's estimated range of $1,000 to $9,500, and
consistent with anecdotal information reported by such sources as
High Times' monthly market quotes and the Price Report Project
(http://www.hyperreal.com/drugs/price.report/index.html), an
internet-based effort to monitor the street prices of marijuana
and other illicit drugs internationally.
According to Webster's dictionary, a metric ton equals 2,204.6 pounds.
Thus the government's estimate (above) that "In 1992, there was an
estimated gross 6,000 to 6,500 metric tons cultivated" would mean
domestic cultivators grew 6,000 x 2,204.6 = 13,227,600 pounds to
6,500 x 2,204.6 = 14,329,900 pounds. At $3,000 per pound, the
government's estimate would thus mean the value of the domestic
marijuana harvest would be worth between $3,000 x 13,227,600 pounds
and $3,000 x 14,329,900 pounds, or between $39,682,800,000 and
$42,989,700,000 - about $39.6 billion to $43 billion.
The vast majority of the commercial marijuana harvested in Oregon
is probably sinsemilla, which is worth at least two to three times
as much as seeded marijuana. (After the marijuana consumer removes
the many seeds from his or her less-expensive, imported product, he
or she is reportedly left with an amount of usable material that
weighs and is worth about the same as sinsemilla.) For obvious
economic reasons, cloned sinsemilla is said to be almost the only type
of marijuana grown in indoor gardens around the nation, and the most
recent evidence at hand suggests outdoor growers elsewhere in the
United States similarly strive to produce seedless harvests. (It's
not clear if law enforcement always subtracts males - which outdoor
growers generally kill before maturity - in its eradication tallies,
but that is just one variable revealing the speculative nature of
measuring proscribed behaviors.)
The cautious reader may want to revise the estimate above to show
the value of the domestic marijuana harvest after police confiscations.
As the quote above from the April 1995 "Marijuana Information Packet"
states, "Domestic seizures of cannabis and marijuana totalled ... 347
metric tons in 1992." Multiplied by 2,204.6, those 347 metric tons
would equal 764,996.2 pounds. Multiplied by $3,000 per pound, that
would mean law-enforcement agencies reduced the value of the American
pot harvest by $2,294,988,600, or just over $2 billion, to between
($39,682,800,000 minus $2,294,988,600 equals) $37,387,812,400 and
($42,989,700,000 minus $2,294,988,600 equals) $40,694,712,400, or
about $37.3 billion to $40 billion.
Apparently the DEA has published figures for this period that are
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