Although the domestic marijuana industry may generate revenues as high as $60 billion each year and probably accounts for more than a fourth of the marijuana consumed in the United States, there has been no systematic study of the industry or of the people who cultivate marijuana for profit. This study is the first of its kind and sets the groundwork for future research on the subject. Ralph A. Weisheit challenges popular images of the drug industry that focus primarily on drug production in other countries or on the plight of inner cities. The focus of this field study relates to the rural drug scene and involves primarily white middle-aged males, showing how the United States drug problem is deeply ingrained in the structure of our society. The study also analyzes the views of marijuana growers and their economic rewards.

Weisheit outlines the history of marijuana, laws covering marijuana cultivation, and the botany of marijuana growing. Using interviews with growers, police, and others familiar with marijuana growing, this study describes a series of new findings about the types of growers, their motivations, their operations, and their status in their communities. Further topics covered are the more sophisticated cultivation techniques developed during the 1980s, and the controversial issue of the relationship between marijuana cultivation and other drug use. The interviews and the typology of growers should be of considerable interest to students and experts in drugs, criminology, and deviance, as well as to marijuana growers, police departments, and defense attorneys.