Police Discover World's Most Expensive Marijuana
During a routine traffic stop in Ohio, police discovered over 100 pounds of the most valuable marijuana ever documented:
Police curbed the gray, four-door Mercury Grand Marquis Ruci was driving after he allegedly committed a lane violation, the highway patrol statement indicated. A specially trained, narcotics-detecting dog was brought to the scene, and its reaction to the car signaled the presence of drugs, the statement said.A search of the vehicle yielded 104 pounds of hydroponically-grown marijuana stuffed inside eight black plastic trash bags. Police said the marijuana had an estimated street sale value of more than $4.7 million. [Naperville Sun]
This is really an incredible discovery and I'm surprised it hasn’t generated more attention. At $4.7 million for 104 pounds, we're talking about an ounce that's worth $2824.51! That just blows away everything listed at High Times's market quotes section, where ounces of high-grade marijuana in Ohio last month were listed at $400. It also overwhelms the STRIDE data collected by drug enforcement officers showing that U.S. marijuana prices averaged around $200 per ounce as of 2003.
So far, I haven’t heard of anyone smoking this new type of marijuana, but that's probably because the police took it all.
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Ok, enough. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this marijuana isn't worth $4.7 million. The police maybe got a little carried away and reporters don't doublecheck their numbers on things like this. It's happened before.
The problem is the numbers are so far off here that it really takes the crime to a different level, an inaccurate one. They magnified the value by a factor of 10, roughly, if the smoker-submitted street prices at High Times are realistic (my guess is they're the most accurate numbers available). The Naperville Sun, The Toledo Blade, and local ABC News grabbed the story, with The Sun even rounding up in the headline, "Driver arrested with $5 million in pot". Ironically, the $300,000 they added for the headline is much closer to what it was actually worth. Police also stated that it was "hydroponically-grown," but they admitted not knowing where it came from, meaning they can't be sure how it was actually grown. Perhaps they just like to say "hydroponic," in which case they're certainly not alone.
Amidst the numerous tragedies and injustices caused by our nation's war on drugs, the tendency to exaggerate drug seizures is a minor one. But it's annoying, it happens a lot, and it might even have the unintended effect of encouraging people to think growing marijuana will make them a millionaire.
Action Alert: (Updated) Let's respond to this by contacting the papers that reported it and letting them know they've been pushing a false headline. Here are a few of them:
Cleveland Plain-Dealer: send a letter/comment here
ABC News send a letter/comment here
Toledo Blade send a letter/comment here.
Naperville Sun send a letter/comment here.
You can send more or less the same comment to each, but be sure to include the appropriate link for their coverage, so they know what you're referring to. And, of course, be brief, on topic, and polite.
Update 2: Fascinatingly, The Chicago Tribune has the story, but leaves out the claims that the marijuana was valued at $4.7 million. That was the headline elsewhere. Could it be that Chicago Tribune was suspicious of the numbers?
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Comment posted by Jack Clubb on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 2:55pm... it had better be soaked in DMT.
I agree with this.
Comment posted by smorgan on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:58amMost cops aren't corrupt. It's just that the few who are have managed to badly harm the public's perception of law-enforcement. When police show contempt for the public (a little or a lot) it's really scary.
It is precisely because we depend on police for so many important things that we freak out completely when we worry that we can't trust them. It doesn't take much, and some people go way overboard in their attitude towards police. Most cops aren't jerks, but they'll show you what's up if you act like a dick.
Our drug laws tell good cops to do a lot of harmful things. They create an enemy mentality between police and a huge, diverse group of people. It's a lot of animosity to have in a free society.
If you can imagine a place in which police are trusted by virtually everyone, could it have laws like these?
cops & drugs
Comment posted by jusme714 on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 11:52pmI use to box on the Houston , Tx boxing team, after competition at out of town aau & golden glove meets, the cops that operated and sponsered the gym would break out large bags of pot and smoke till they couldn't see straight, then they would go out and start fights with whoever, just for kicks....they always told me they aquired the dope from the idiots they busted on the streets.....this still happens on a daily basis....they are not required to take drug test.....
Call it what it is --
Comment posted by rita on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 2:45amthe cops are LYING. And in my experience, the lies don't begin or end with the value of the drugs seized.
The "law enforcement" officers who raided my house lied under oath to get search warrants and again to the grand juries to get indictments. When I refused to answer their questions, they made up their own on their incident reports. Evidence disappeared; other evidence was found on a nightstand beside my bed that didn't even exist. The cigarette lighter in my purse took on new life as a "small torch;" my address book was transformed into a "pay/owe slip." As if by magic, mirrors and empty tins became covered in "white residue" and 2.5 grams of meth became 8.
If judges were "honorable," it would only take one lie by police or prosecutor to make the rest of their testimony inadmissable. But then, if we're going to wish, let's wish for cops who care about the law, attorneys who care about justice and newspaper editors who care about the truth. What a world that would be.