Althouse: "24 Mind-Blowing Facts About Marijuana Production in America."

March 17, 2014

"24 Mind-Blowing Facts About Marijuana Production in America."

"The way marijuana is grown in America, it turns out, is anything but sustainable and organic," explains Mother Jones.

35 comments:

RecChief said...: what's the Line on whether Althouse and Meade are high right now?

jsut kidding; 3/17/14, 9:17 PM
Scott said...: Ann, if marijuana were as legal and accessible in Madison as beer is, would you smoke it?; 3/17/14, 9:18 PM
Mark said...: If you could grow it in your back yard (perhaps fenced) it would lose most of these issues.

Yes, prohibition has driven the production into wasteful and poisonous practices. Like the association with organized crime and gangs, this is more an effect of the legal state than sole possible way of operating.; 3/17/14, 9:19 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Ann, if marijuana were as legal and accessible in Madison as beer is, would you smoke it?"

I would probably sample it to see what it was like, but generally, I doubt if it would be of much use to me.; 3/17/14, 9:27 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: 24?

Duh.

It is 29.3241.

Haha.; 3/17/14, 9:28 PM
PB said...: Mother Jones should do the same expose about organic farming.; 3/17/14, 9:31 PM
chickelit said...: Pot production is in the closet and needs to let out into the daylight. Only when cannabis can be grown side-by-side with wheat and corn will real agro-equality prevail. There should be pot pride parades too--to get people get over their bigotry.; 3/17/14, 9:36 PM
Scott said...: Thanks Ann.

Have a beer. Use a joint. How come nobody says:

"Hey, stop by after work and use a beer with me."; 3/17/14, 9:37 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I've seen too many people, getting too many lung infections, not to know this is true,..; 3/17/14, 9:40 PM
Scott said...: "Pot production is in the closet and needs to let out into the daylight."

Great. Closet metaphor. Now The Pot Liberation Movement needs a song by Jerry Herman.; 3/17/14, 9:42 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: we have a small grow operation going right now (vegetables not marij) and there is no way we are using as much electricity as 29 refrigerators. there isn't even a noticeable increase in our light bill.

In honsety I must admit my storage shed will be declared a Superfund site after we move but that is because i believe in "better living through chemistry'; 3/17/14, 9:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: What were the odds that Reefer Madness occurs during March Madness.

Has everyone filled out their Brackets? Mine have Wichita State and Malaysian Flight 370 in the Finals.; 3/17/14, 9:56 PM
Levi Starks said...: I guess it was all well and fine when the decriminalization of MJ meant only that free citizens were now free to do as they pleased. But now we're told that growing pot is a major contributor to global warming. Now it really is a moral issue.; 3/17/14, 10:05 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Have a beer. Use a joint. How come nobody says: 'Hey, stop by after work and use a beer with me.'"

People say "use alcohol." But basically I think it's that drugs are understood to be substances that you take for a particular effect, a means to the desired end, whereas we tend to see the experience of drinking — the taste, the feeling of the liquid in the mouth — as a pleasurable experience in itself, and not so much something you're dosing yourself with to get an effect. Some of that might be the drinker in denial, but I don't think people are smoking marijuana for the activity of smoking itself.; 3/17/14, 10:08 PM
Dad said...: Sustainability is the new hobgoblin of little minds.; 3/17/14, 10:11 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Let us not Condemn Behoviorism lest a Behoviorist become offended.

I spelled two above words as if the root were "behavior."

Steve Jobs and his long-suffering buddies decided to sell my words different.

Steve Jobs, and Rush Limbaugh, are smart enough to know you fucks could not tie your shoes without THEIR direction. You profitable fucks.; 3/17/14, 10:17 PM
William said...: One of the unintended side effects of pot legalization is that pot users and dealers are losing their chic. I saw pictures of the people lined up for a cannabis job fair. They looked like Starbucks employees, but heavier, older, and dowdier.; 3/17/14, 10:17 PM
Dad said...: "Mother Jones should do the same expose about organic farming."

They should come to central New York and see the shitholes that are "organic" dairy farms. And then they should ask themselves why "organic" milk is ultra-pasteurized, and conventional milk is not.

And why do "organic" farms make such liberal use of plastic?; 3/17/14, 10:17 PM
Dad said...: "People say "use alcohol." But basically I think it's that drugs are understood to be substances that you take for a particular effect, a means to the desired end, whereas we tend to see the experience of drinking — the taste, the feeling of the liquid in the mouth — as a pleasurable experience in itself, and not so much something you're dosing yourself with to get an effect. Some of that might be the drinker in denial, but I don't think people are smoking marijuana for the activity of smoking itself."

Precisely.; 3/17/14, 10:19 PM
Scott said...: "...I don't think people are smoking marijuana for the activity of smoking itself."

True, but that is changing with legalization. Smokers of premium cigars have developed a sophisticated culture surrounding their activity. The same thing is happening in marijuana culture. Grading of weed by chemical content is already here; and standardization is not far behind. Soon you will be able to select weed based on the kind of buzz it will give you.; 3/17/14, 10:22 PM
chickelit said...: Smokers of premium cigars have developed a sophisticated culture surrounding their activity.

They are also highly taxed aficionados -- at least in California.; 3/17/14, 10:53 PM
ALP said...: we have a small grow operation going right now (vegetables not marij) and there is no way we are using as much electricity as 29 refrigerators. there isn't even a noticeable increase in our light bill.
*********************
My thoughts as well - the energy stats are probably for anything but fluorescent lights, which work just fine for indoor grows and LEDs are supposed to be even better in terms of low energy use.; 3/18/14, 1:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Most of that outdoor California pot is grown in the National Forests of the North Coast. The article talks about dams, but doesn't mention the land mines, shotguns on trip wires, deadfalls, armed guards and missing hikers.; 3/18/14, 6:42 AM
Nichevo said...: Ann, have you ever smoked? Not to incriminate you; I mean tobacco. I'm guessing no, because you would find many of the same social and sensory interactions involved in enjoying a Pall Mall, a pipe, a Cohiba, or no doubt a fatty, as you would the accompanying bourbon. Have you ever French-inhaled?

I think the issue once more is your narrow experience, the limits of your imagination, and your resulting lack of empathy.; 3/18/14, 7:10 AM
Peter said...: There was a time when countries bragged about how much electricity they produced. More electricity implied more industrial production as well as more creature comforts at home.

Now, electricity has become (yet another) EcoSin, a (mortal?) sin against Mother Gaia.

When did this change happen, and why?; 3/18/14, 8:37 AM
Steven said...: "The way marijuana is grown in America, it turns out, is anything but sustainable"

Well, no problem, right? If it isn't sustainable, it'll have to stop of its own accord.; 3/18/14, 9:50 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Now, outdoors under the wonderful sun in rainy Northern Cal: no problemo!

The environmental impact of the Mexican gangsters hired to guard the farm and fertilize it? hay mucho problemo!; 3/18/14, 9:56 AM
RonF said...: "whereas we tend to see the experience of drinking — the taste, the feeling of the liquid in the mouth — as a pleasurable experience in itself, and not so much something you're dosing yourself with to get an effect."

This does not explain the popularity of Icehouse and other such "beers".; 3/18/14, 10:05 AM
RonF said...: "whereas we tend to see the experience of drinking — the taste, the feeling of the liquid in the mouth — as a pleasurable experience in itself, and not so much something you're dosing yourself with to get an effect."

This does not explain the popularity of Icehouse and other such "beers".; 3/18/14, 10:05 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: To Bill and ALP I'll say that flourescents are NOT OK for growing high quality MJ, and you aren't likely using high intensity Halide lights with massive ballasts. For the first two months (roughly) you'd want the lights, pumps, and ionizers running 24/7 and only cut back to 12 on/12 off when you're ready to force budding. Note that unless your "grow room" is extremely well insulated if not populated by thermal units that reflect heat and light back into the plants, then a big part of your electricity bill will be cooling the rest of your house down while reproducing the Sun and jungle in your grow environment. And you will want a HEPA filter to vent the ionized air so you don't unwittingly cause a skunk panic in the neighborhood.

Now do this again every three months and then tell me how many refrigerator's worth of juice it takes to sustain several overlapping 90-day grow cycles. That's how you can draw so much power.; 3/18/14, 10:08 AM
clint said...: Scott: "Have a beer. Use a joint."

Do people actually say that?

I'd have thought "smoke a joint" was more common.

The word "use" has more of a long-term habitual connotation, in my ear.

"Have a beer" is to "drink (beer)"
as
"smoke a joint" is to "use pot."; 3/18/14, 10:18 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: To Scott, a good legal herb vendor, like Redwood Alliance in Sonoma Valley does, will tell you the ratios of CBD to CBN to THC in each cultivar and label the jars accordingly. Accentuating one or the others among these three main chemicals present in MJ can determine if the herb is good for pain management, insomnia, glaucoma or other ailments. The effects can also be described by the vendor staff, if they are well trained, similar to how a good waiter assists diners in making menu selections. It helps if they eat the food they're selling and understand the chef's intentions.; 3/18/14, 10:25 AM
Sigivald said...: "Sustainable and organic".

I pray to God for a day I never have to hear those two words again as Something Obviously Good.

("Sustainable" means nothing very specific, just "made in a way the speaker approves of".

Likewise "organic" is as utterly meaningless as the term the same people use for things they disapprove of, "chemical" or "processed".

As if every object is not made entirely of "chemicals", and in practice every food and useful object "processed"?

Hippies who know nothing about chemistry or physics or biology, but think they know a whole lot, purely in received wisdom from other hippies.

A pox on the lot of them.); 3/18/14, 12:17 PM
Jim said...: Why can't they shut down the Pot industry with a NEPA lawsuit? I work for a LARGE federal agency that has been sued on flimsier grounds.; 3/18/14, 2:46 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: "The way marijuana is grown in America, it turns out, is anything but sustainable and organic," explains Mother Jones.

See, this is why it's true that marijuana will be a gateway to harder drugs. People are going to realize that opium poppies can be grown in gardens that are completely sustainable and organic.; 3/18/14, 11:15 PM