CHARLOTTE, NC -It’s a buzzing cash crop in North Carolina–arguably the most valuable–grown on plots across the state. Agriculture experts say the climate and foliage create the perfect recipe for harvesting marijuana.
“Sometimes we’re finding one plant or two plants, sometimes we’re finding thousands of plants,” said Brian Neil, special agent in charge of the State Bureau of Investigation’s Intelligence and Information section.
Neil oversees the state’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication and Suppression Program in partnership with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. From 2008 to 2013, the agencies worked with local law enforcement and seized more than 340,000 plants across North Carolina.
Marijuana’s illegal status supports it’s high price tag–a value of $1,500 – $2,000 dollars per plant. That’s upwards of $686 million taken out of the hands of criminals in North Carolina.
“Plots that are 100-plus plants, that’s not for personal use. That’s going to be a criminal enterprise or some type of network,” said Neil.
The state’s biggest busts are not mom and pop bong shops. Neil says law enforcement is finding outdoor and indoor grow sites across the state run by violent drug-trafficking groups and cartels. They bring weapons, violence and a slew of other drugs with them.
“They enjoy it being illegal because they make a lot of money keeping it that way. What we’re proposing is that we take that money and spread it across, legitimately across, our community,” said Alexander Bumgardner with The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Bumgardner says keeping pot illegal is keeping millions of dollars from the state economy. According to DrugScience.org–a pro marijuana website–North Carolina ranked fifth nationally in production of marijuana in 2006. The cannabis crop topped $670 million, which is higher than both tobacco and cotton.
“The entire hemp industry could revitalize our manufacturing and textile base. My grandparents were cotton heads, and they would be very proud of me to know that I’m fighting to revitalize that part of North Carolina,” said Bumgardnder.
NC NORML envisions communities where pot could be sold and grown by local farmers and grocers to spur small business growth.
“It would be very similar to the size of our micro brewery industry. You would have small family-owned companies that are entrepreneurs and have little shops,” said Bumgardner.
NC NORML points to Colorado, the latest state to legalize marijuana.
According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, in the first three months of this year, the state raked in nearly $22 million from pot. More than $16 million of the revenue was from taxes, the rest in licenses and application fees.
Neil says the equation is not that simple. Even after legalization, law enforcement would still be fighting pot’s criminal element.
“You’re still going to have a market or an element that’s not going to follow the rules and they’re going to try to undercut it through a black market, so to say,” said Neil.
Democratic State Representative Kelly Alexander from Mecklenburg County plans to re-introduce a bill this session to make medical marijuana legal.
