10 Shocking Facts About Weed

These surprising facts about weed are 100% true, and make for great conversation starters when you’re in the company of fellow enthusiasts!

1) Over $30 Billion Worth Of Weed Is Grown In The United States

According to DEA statistics based on the amount of plants they’ve seized, at least $31 billion dollars worth of pot is being grown in the country each year. California is far and away the leading source, with over 21 million plants grown at an estimated value of over $13 billion. Hawaii, Kentucky and Tennessee each top $3 billion in production. Florida is the third largest producer of indoor plants and the seventh largest overall.

) There Is No Known Lethal Dose Of Cannabis

We don’t know how much cannabis it would take to kill a human, as no large mammal ever tested has died from ingestion. Dogs and monkeys have eaten an amount of THC equivalent to what would be found in 46 pounds of pot and have survived. Based on tests where rats died, it is estimated that it would take consumption of at least three pounds of weed all at once for a person to be at risk of death. Statistically speaking, you’re more likely to die of carbon monoxide poisoning if you try to smoke yourself to death!

3) The First Pot Law In America Required Citizens To Grow It

Cannabis legislation in the United States kicked off in 1619 in the original colony of Jamestown. It began with an official requirement of all farming colonists to grow hemp, as it was so widely useful due to its strong fibers.

4) E-Commerce Began With A Pot Deal

The first “e-commerce” transaction occurred back in 1971 on ARPANET, the military precursor to the internet that was widely used by universities for sharing scientific research. According to New York Times reporter John Markoff’s 2005 book “What The Dormouse Said”, students at Stanford and MIT used it to arrange the sale of a small quantity of weed.

5) Indoor Grows Use Almost 10% Of California’s Electricity

We mentioned earlier that California leads the country’s marijuana production by far, producing over 21 million plants per year. Though most of that is from outdoor grows, the lights and cooling systems for indoor grows are sufficient to use almost 10% of all the energy output in the state.

6) Cannabis Grows Wild And Free In The Kingdom Of Bhutan, And No One Cares

Bhutan is a small independent kingdom located in the Himalayas, governed by a fairly strict form of Buddhism that strongly discourages the use of any intoxicants. Weed grows wild all over the country, including in the towns and villages, but hardly anyone partakes. It is instead used mostly to feed pigs.

7) The Word “Canvas” Comes From Cannabis

The etymology of the word “canvas” can be traced back to a very familiar Latin term — cannabis. This is likely due to hemp being the material of choice for sails and cloth for a long period of human history.

8) The U.S. Government Produced A Pro-Hemp Short Film For WWII, Then Covered It Up For Four Decades

“Hemp For Victory” was produced by the government in 1942, and it encouraged farmers to grow as much of the substance as possible to aid in the war effort. After the war, the government destroyed copies of the film and officially denied ever making it. A surviving copy was discovered in a private collection in 1976, however, and the government finally acknowledged it in 1989. It is now freely available from the Internet Archive.

9) The U.S. Government Mails People Free Weed

A select lucky few individuals who were part of the federal Compassionate Investigational New Drug program in the 1980s and early 1990s receive eight ounces of perfectly legal pot each month by mail, courtesy of the government. The program was officially closed in 1992, but surviving patients grandfathered in continue to receive their medicine for the rest of their lives.

10) Cannabinoids Are In Breast Milk

Several cannabinoids are apparently produced naturally in breast milk, and appear to be critical in stimulating the appetite of infants. Naturally, psychoactive THC is not one of these. Babies get the munchies from them, but not the high.