Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA) Column: the 420 Copyright: 2012 Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact: http://newsreview.com/sacto/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540 Author: David Downs MARIJUANA BY THE NUMBERS 4: Number of persons approved by the federal government to smoke medical marijuana. (according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) 16: Number of medical-marijuana states. 750,000: Estimated number of qualified patients in California. (according to NORML) 24.8 million: Estimated number of eligible patients under current state laws. $1.7 billion: Estimated size of the annual medical-marijuana market in the United States. $8.9 billion: Forecast size of the annual U.S. medical-marijuana market in 2016. 92: Percentage of the national medical-cannabis market located in California and Colorado. $1.3 billion: Size of California medical-cannabis market. $100 million: Amount the California Board of Equalization estimates it collects annually from the 8.75 percent sales tax levied on medical-marijuana dispensaries. $175,000: Estimated tax revenue from dispensary and permit sales in the city of Sacramento. $740,000: 2010 Oakland tax revenue from dispensary permits and sales. (city of Oakland) 30,000: Estimated number of attendees at the International Cannabis & Hemp Expo in September 2011, held for the first time in front of Oakland City Hall. $2.5 million: Amount the largest medical-marijuana collective in the world, Harborside Health Center, owes the IRS, because the IRS says medical cannabis dispensaries can't deduct business expenses. $18 billion: Estimated size of the annual U.S. marijuana black market. 28 million: Estimated number of consumers of marijuana in the last year. (U.S. Department of Justice) 9,000: Estimated number of full-time equivalent Drug Enforcement Administration agent positions budgeted for 2011-12. (White House) 17,000 metric tons: Estimated annual marijuana production in the United States. (according to the U.S. DOJ) 5,000 metric tons: Estimated annual marijuana production in the United States. (according to RAND) 1: Percentage of total U.S. electricity generation estimated used by indoor-pot cultivation. (Evan Mills, member, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) $302.81: The average price of an ounce of high-quality weed in California. (www.priceofweed.com, December 21, 2011) $412.15: The average price of an ounce of high-quality weed in New York. 71.5: Percentage of U.S. teens who say cannabis is "fairly/very easy to obtain." (National Institutes of Health) 67: Percentage of Americans thinking the "war on drugs" has been a failure (Angus Reid Public Opinion Poll, August 2011). 1,200: Number of local chapters of the NAACP now working to end the Drug War after the group voted in October 2011, to call for the war's end. (NAACP) 50: Percentage of Americans supporting marijuana legalization. (Gallup) 97: Age of Doritos creator Arch West, who passed away in September 2011. 14.3 percent: Likelihood that a weekly cannabis smoker in the United States is obese. (American Journal of Epidemiology, March 2011) 22 percent: Likelihood that a cannabis abstainer in the United States is obese. (American Journal of Epidemiology, March 2011) 35,000: Number of doctors represented by the California Medical Association who, in October 2011, called for legalization of marijuana to increase research and reduce public harm. (CMA) 50-plus: Percentage of patients in a MediCann survey reported they had used or were using marijuana as a substitute for prescription drugs. (RAND) $3.1 million: Six-month overseas sales of Sativex-a marijuana throat spray in stage-three clinical trials in the United States. (GW Pharmaceuticals) 131 billion: Base pairs of the cannabis sativa genome sequenced and published for the first time. (Medicinal Genomics) 19: Percentage decrease in traffic-accident fatality rate of 20- to 29-year-olds associated with medical-marijuana legalization. (Daniel Rees, University of Colorado, 2011) $100: Fine for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in California, starting January 1, 2011. (state of California) 35: Number of years it took to get possession downgraded from a misdemeanor to an infraction in California. $250: Room-cleaning fee for smoking pot in a San Francisco hotel. (field reports) 6: Number of California city or county voter referendums or initiatives to regulate dispensaries in 2011 and 2012. 5: Marijuana-related California initiatives seeking a spot on the November 12, statewide ballot. 3: Number of pounds allowable for personal use under the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012, currently gathering signatures in California. 504,760: Validated signatures needed to qualify an initiative for California ballot in November 2012. (Bill Zimmerman) $1.5 million: Estimated cost to gather required amount of valid signatures to get on the California ballot. (Zimmerman) $34.4 million: Box-office receipts for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (www.rottentomatoes.com) 3.3 million: Number of viewers that tuned in to episode two of FX's Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood and a pot-smoking talking dog. Wilfred has been picked up for a second season. 2: Billboard chart rank for debut of Wiz Khalifa's April release Rolling Papers, which went gold. The single "Roll Up" went platinum. (Billboard, RIAA) - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom