Professionals or Amateurs? Revisiting the Notion of Professional Crime in the Context of Cannabis Cultivation

This chapter summarizes some of the research from the 1990s and provides an update on what is currently known about cannabis cultivation in the United States (US). The percentage of Americans using cannabis hasn't changed much over time, but the potency of cannabis consumed in the US has increased substantially. The federal government has remained steadfast in its opposition to cannabis, but as a result of these events states and localities gradually softened their stance toward the drug. Medical cannabis California was the first state to legalize medical cannabis, and there is no state in which the medical cannabis statute is more vague. Foreign drug gangs California has also seen the influence of Mexican and Asian drug trafficking organizations on domestic cannabis cultivation. From the interviews with growers and with officials attempting to arrest growers, three general types of grower were identified. The hustlers, pragmatists, and communal growers of the 1980s still exist.