Many people who work in the emerald triangle’s underground economy think of it as just a job. However, for the majority of people outside the cannabis industry there is a lot of mystery. It makes sense, a black market is by definition veiled, secretive, and hidden in the shadows. We all know there is a lot of money to be made growing cannabis, but for outsiders that’s usually the limit of their economic understanding. There is a lot of resentment, because people feel that the rule breakers and outlaws are getting rich easily while the rest of us work hard for much less.
So how much are people making? Who’s getting rich? and how rich? To answer these questions I have spoken with dozens of people working in the industry. It’s time to bring some transparency to the black market economy that so many benefit from, yet so few understand. Given the nature of the business, hard data will probably never be available, so consider this more of a sketch than an exact measurement.
