WASHINGTON - December 18 - Marijuana is now the most valuable cash crop in the U.S., exceeding the value of corn and wheat combined, according to a new study released today. This is so despite decades of marijuana "eradication" campaigns in which over 100 million marijuana plants have been destroyed.

"The fact that marijuana is America's number one cash crop after more than three decades of governmental eradication efforts is the clearest illustration that our present marijuana laws are a complete failure," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "America's marijuana crop is worth more than our nation's annual production of corn and wheat combined. And our nation's laws guarantee that 100 percent of the proceeds from marijuana sales go to unregulated criminals rather than to legitimate businesses that pay taxes to support schools, police and roads."

The report -- prepared by researcher Jon B. Gettman, who has a doctorate in public policy and specializes in economic development -- can be downloaded at at http://www.drugscience.org/bcr/index.html. Key findings include:

**Using conservative price estimates, marijuana is America's top cash crop, with a value of $35.8 billion this year -- exceeding the combined value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.45 billion) combined.

**The top marijuana producing states are California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, and Washington. Marijuana is the top cash crop in 12 states and among the top three cash crops in 30 states.

**Despite intensive marijuana eradication campaigns that seized over 103 million cultivated marijuana plants and wiped out an average of nearly 36,000 cultivation sites per year, U.S. marijuana production increased tenfold from 1981 to 2006, from 1,000 metric tons (2.2 million pounds) to 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds), according to U.S. government estimates.

**This enormous growth in marijuana cultivation, despite massive eradication efforts, indicates that "marijuana has become a pervasive and ineradicable part of our national economy" that should be put under a system of legal regulation.

With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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