Marijuana Facts

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  1. Illegal Marijuana Market Value$141.80 Billion


News, information and statistics about the illegal marijuana market. Facts about cannabis and illegal marijuana growing is collected from security agencies, user submitted information and other public criminal justice information.

According to a report by the International Narcotics Control Board, over 1,000 tonnes of marijuana is seized by United States security agents along the US / Mexico border each year.

The marijuana seized by US customs represented 94 percent of all marijuana seized around the world in 2013.

Back in 2010, law enforcement officials estimated that the US black market in marijuana was worth $41 Billion.

(See the price to buy a gram of marijuana around the world.)

Source:  AFP, “Mexico’s drug cartels adapt to US pot legalization,” Yahoo News, March 7, 2015.

Government officials in the Netherlands reported that the legalized trade of drugs and prostitution in Amsterdam and across the country contributes $3.4 Billion (€2.5 Billion) to the national economy. The two industries contribute to 0.4 percent of the Netherlands GDP.

Statistics Netherlands stated that most of the consumption of the services is domestic and takes place in the marijuana coffee shops and brothels.

(Sex trade revenue around the world.)

Source: “It’s official: drugs, prostitution boost Dutch economy,” Reuters, June 25, 2014.


According to intelligence by the United States, there are about 37,066 acres of fields in Jamaica that are growing marijuana, or ganja, in the country.

66 percent of Jamaicans have stated in surveys that they have smoked marijuana, and 85 percent favor medical marijuana.

Despite wide-spread belief about ganja, marijuana is technically illegal in Jamaica.

(See more statistics about marijuana use here.)

Source:  Aileen Torres-Bennett, “Jamaica mulls legal pot (no, it’s not already legal),” USA Today, June 9, 2014.








Based on user submitted data, the following is the street price of marijuana in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The prices are listed in Canadian dollars, with the units of gram listed as written when submitted.

$10 to $20 for one gram.

$15 to $20 for 1.75 grams (aka “teener”).

$45 to $48 for 3.5 grams (eighth of weed).

$75 to $110 for 7 grams (quarter ounce).

$125 to $140 for 14 grams (half ounce).

$250 to $260 for 28 grams (1 once).

$900 to $1,000 for 112 grams (quarter pound).

(See more prices of marijuana as reported by the United Nations.)

(See more prices reported by readers of Havocscope.)

Source: User submitted data, received on May 7, 2014.

Sate officials the US State of Colorado reported on the tax collected from the state’s legalized marijuana program.

Marijuana smoking became legalized in the state at the start of 2014. In the time span of January and February 2014, the state of Colorado collected about $4.2 Million in sales and excise taxes on recreational marijuana. The amount collected was half of the $5.5 Million to $8.9 Million in taxes that state officials estimated it would collect.

(More crime in the United States data.)

When voters in Colorado approved the recreational use of marijuana, the law included a 10 percent sales tax and a 15 percent excise tax on the wholesale prices of marijuana. In addition, consumers must pay local sales taxes and a 2.9 percent sales tax at the retail level.

Analysts interviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek stated that the low levels of tax collection were due to smokers choosing to remain enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program, where the tax levied on marijuana is lower. Also, experts believe that many smokers are continuing to buy their marijuana on the black market due to its cheaper price.

(How much does marijuana cost around the world?)

Source:  Jennifer Oldham, “Colorado Pot Revenue Lags Forecasts as Licensing is Slow,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 1, 2014.



Marijuana is the most seized drug in Australia.




In early 2014, federal security administrators reported that more heroin grown and produced in Mexico was entering the United States. Officials stated that this was occurring due to the decrease in marijuana that was being sold by Mexican traffickers.

Based on intelligence and media interviews, the wholesale price of marijuana sold in Mexico has dropped within the past 5 years. In 2009, a farmer growing marijuana in Mexico was able to receive up to $100 per kilogram of wholesale marijuana. By 2014, the wholesale price of marijuana dropped to less than $25. Farmers state that the push towards marijuana legalization has contributed to the downfall as more people buy higher-quality marijuana that was grown in the United States.

As the price of marijuana decreased, Mexican drug cartel have begun looking for new revenue streams. It appears as if they have found a replacement in heroin.

With reports from criminal justice programs stating that heroin abuse increased by 79 percent in the US between 2007 and 2012, Mexican cartels are increasing their supply in order to meet demand. Back in 2007, border security agents seized 367 kilograms of heroin that was being smuggled into the United States from Mexico. In 2013, security agents seized 2,162 kilograms.

A contributing factor to the high heroin abuse rates in the US is driven by prescription drugs abuse. With heroin being cheaper than prescription drugs, many users are continually switching to heroin due to its cheaper cost. For example, a prescription drug sold on the black market in can be sold for up to $80, with the effect of the pill wearing off after 4 to 6 hours. A hit of heroin can be sold for as little as $4.

Farm workers in Mexico are cashing in from the increase in heroin demand. Farmers in the Northern Sierra Madre earn up to $30 to $40 per day cultivating poppies on farmland. The poppy farm is reportedly the best paid farm in Northern Mexico.

Farmers sell a kilogram of opium for $1,500. The wholesale price has doubled in 2013 from the year before. The raw opium is sold to middlemen who cook the opium into heroin. After being smuggled across the border, a kilogram in the Northern United States can be sold for $60,000 to $80,000.

(How much does heroin cost per gram?)

Source:  Nick Miroff, “Tracing the U.S. heroin surge back south of the border as Mexican cannabis output falls,” Washington Post, April 6, 2014.









Previously, a reader submitted information about the price of marijuana in Stockholm, Sweden. In that data post, the reader explained the price structure of the marijuana market in Stockholm.

In a follow up submission, more information about the marijuana trafficking and growing operations that takes place in Sweden. According to our reader, Swedish marijuana is grown across the entire country. However, with criminal justice programs targeting growers in the major cities, more marijuana cultivation plants have moved to the countryside. There have also been reports of various organized crime groups being involved in large scale marijuana cultivation farms, such as the Vietnamese Mafia, Albanian and Kurdish gangs, as well as outlawed motorcycle gangs.

Marijuana that is trafficked into the country is brought in from Denmark, Germany and Poland. Small growers in Sweden are attempting to grow their own weed in order to lower the amount of marijuana that is trafficked by organized crime.

(How much does marijuana cost?)

Source: User submitted data, received by Havocscope on March 24, 2014.