Filling in the blanks. An estimation of illicit cannabis growers’ profits in Belgium

Vanhove, Wouter; Surmont, Tim; Damme, Patrick Van; Ruyver, Brice De

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.01.020

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Our broad estimation of the possible profits for online vendors of herbal spice containing the synthetic cannabinoid 5F-MDMB-PINACA shows that, with modest investment, significant profits can be generated with the production and online retail sale of herbal spice packages. By comparison, for illegal cannabis growers, the possible ROCs ranged between 1.4 and 6.8 (Vanhove et al, 2014) based upon an entire year of illegal growing activities. Even when rental expenses or labor costs would be taken into account, this kind of business appears to generate higher profits in a much shorter time than growing cannabis plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although in the reports there was no certainty about the specific synthetic cannabinoids used for production, we assume that the production methods for making the herbal mixtures are similar or the same. We entered our data into a cost-benefit analysis formula (Cellini & Kee, 2010), based upon earlier research performed on profit estimation of illegal cannabis growers (Vanhove, Surmont, Van Damme, & De Ruyver, 2014). We separately estimated the costs of producing the actual herbal mixture and the other costs and investments needed to package and advertise the products for retail.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an attempt to estimate rates on ROCs for cannabis growers in Belgium, Vanhove et al(2014) incorporated risk adjustment of the profits, where the risk was determined by the probability of getting caught, relying on Becker's economic approach to crime and punishment (1968). The rate of ROCs can be calculated as:…”

Section: Profit Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The “Spice” Trade

Surmont

Danielsson

Hughes

et al. 2017

International Criminal Justice Review

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There are currently over 170 synthetic cannabinoids monitored by the European Union Early Warning System, making it the single largest group of new psychoactive substances, often marketed as “legal” replacements to cannabis. The Internet, coupled with cheap and efficient shipping, has allowed countries like China and India to become the chemical and pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers to the world. These companies ship synthetic cannabinoids to Europe, where they are processed and packaged into a range of products, smokable herbal mixtures being the most common one. The herbal mixtures, often referred to as “Spice,” are then sold via online shops on the surface web, using sophisticated marketing techniques, potentially generating high profits. We decided to use available data on the synthetic cannabinoid 5F-MDMB-PINACA to estimate those profits. After making an inventory of the required materials and the typical retail price, we made a lower and upper bound profit estimation. We found that the return on costs varies between 3.3 and 24.4 after the first production and rises to a range between 5.5 and 42.5. By applying a basic economic model, our estimations show that profits in this type of business are substantial.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The “Spice” Trade

Surmont

Danielsson

Hughes

et al. 2017

International Criminal Justice Review

Self Cite

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“…Investments in indoor grow operations of Cannabis sativa require substantial capital investment [14]. Increasing yield by 16.5% will help offset these capital expenses more quickly, likely increasing net income and reducing risk [15]. Integration of Mammoth P into the grow operation was seamless, requiring no additional revision of standard practices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a Microbial Biostimulant, Mammoth PTM, on Cannabis sativa Bud Yield

Conant¹,

Walsh²,

Walsh³

et al. 2017

J Hortic

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“…Further complicating matters, producers must balance fixed costs which do not vary with crop productivity (such as property tax, lease rates, building security, and maintenance, etc.) and variable costs (such as the aforementioned lighting-related costs among other crop inputs) which can have dramatic impacts on crop productivity and yield (Vanhove et al, 2014). Since indoor crop lighting is a compromise between input costs and crop productivity, it is critical for growers to select the optimum light intensity (LI) for their respective production environment and business models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cannabis Yield, Potency, and Leaf Photosynthesis Respond Differently to Increasing Light Levels in an Indoor Environment

Morrison¹,

Llewellyn²,

Zheng³

2021

Preprint

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Since the recent legalization of medical and recreational use of cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) in many regions worldwide, there has been high demand for research to improve yield and quality. With the paucity of scientific literature on the topic, this study investigated the relationships between light intensity (LI) and photosynthesis, inflorescence yield, and inflorescence quality of cannabis grown in an indoor environment. After growing vegetatively for 2 weeks under a canopy-level photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of ≈ 425 μmol·m-2·s-1 and an 18-h light/6-h dark photoperiod, plants were grown for 12 weeks in a 12-h light/12-h dark ‘flowering’ photoperiod under canopy-level PPFDs ranging from 120 to 1800 μmol·m-2·s-1 provided by light emitting diodes. Leaf light response curves varied both with localized (i.e., leaf-level) PPFD and temporally, throughout the flowering cycle. Therefore, it was concluded that the leaf light response is not a reliable predictor of whole- plant responses to LI, particularly crop yield. This may be especially evident given that dry inflorescence yield increased linearly with increasing canopy-level PPFD up to 1800 μmol·m-2·s-1, while leaf-level photosynthesis saturated well below 1800 μmol·m-2·s-1. The density of the apical inflorescence and harvest index also increased linearly with increasing LI, resulting in higher-quality marketable tissues and less superfluous tissue to dispose of. There were no LI treatment effects on cannabinoid potency, while there were minor LI treatment effects on terpene potency. Commercial cannabis growers can use these light response models to determine the optimum LI for their production environment to achieve the best economic return; balancing input costs with the commercial value of their cannabis products.

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Filling in the blanks. An estimation of illicit cannabis growers’ profits in Belgium

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

The “Spice” Trade

The “Spice” Trade

Effects of a Microbial Biostimulant, Mammoth PTM, on Cannabis sativa Bud Yield

Cannabis Yield, Potency, and Leaf Photosynthesis Respond Differently to Increasing Light Levels in an Indoor Environment

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