Intangible Rewards From Crime: Case of Domestic Marijuana Cultivation

• NCJ Number: 154655
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 37 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1991) Pages: 506-527
• Author(s): R A Weisheit
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): 88-IJ-CX-0016
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

Based on interviews with 31 commercial marijuana growers, 30 law enforcement officials, and other persons familiar with the domestic cultivation of marijuana, this study examined some of the rewards of the drug business which were neither monetary nor psychopharmacological.

Abstract

A description of three types of marijuana growers -- hustlers, pragmatists, and communal growers -- can facilitate an understanding of the intangible rewards of cultivating and selling this drug. Although money was an important motivating factor for these growers, it was not the only one, particularly for the communal growers who were less likely to be driven by external or internal forces to use growing marijuana to make large sums of money. Growers interviewed for the study emphasized either the spiritual, social, or intrinsic rewards from growing. The pride and satisfaction these growers derived from producing a potent product made them averse to cultivating wild marijuana, either for direct use or sale, or to mix with more potent marijuana in order to increase their profit. 2 notes and 29 references