Miracle Weed: Coming Soon to a Home and Garden Store Near You?

The folks at Miracle-Gro are hoping its grow time for their medical pot business. From The Wall Street Journal:

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed.

In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana as well as other niches to help boost sales at his lawn and garden company.

"I want to target the pot market," Mr. Hagedorn said in an interview. "There's no good reason we haven't."

Why the focus on the still small market for medical marijuana? Hagedorn says the slow economy is one reason why he'd like to target a relatively small sector for new business:

In the past, Scotts wouldn't have considered pursuing businesses or product lines that generated less than $10 million a year in revenue. But, Mr. Hagedorn said, "We can't operate our business like that anymore."

Comments

[R C Dean]

Sadly, big corporations having a political/economic stake is probably the best thing that could happen here.

[Brett L]

I came to post the identical thought.

[Episiarch]

It's not sad if it helps spur legalization.

[R C Dean]

Its sad that our political system only responds to big corporate interests, is what I meant.

[Episiarch]

Yeah, but that's the world we live in. If, for once, it can actually be used in the interests of furthering liberty rather than infringing it, I say: win.

[Almanian]

KOCHTOPUS!!!!!one!!!!1!!!1

[Troy]

True, but I hope it works in getting it legalized. And once it is, I can't wait for the what the marketplace is gonna bring.

[Troy]

True, but I hope it works in getting it legalized. And once it is, I can't wait for the what the marketplace is gonna bring.

[Gibby]

Markets are good.

[Abdul]

"I want to target the pot market," Mr. Hagedorn said in an interview. "There's no good reason we haven't.". . .

Since I don't own dogs and apparently live in a country that does not extradite people to America for being accessories to drug charges. Also, I enjoy the challenge of an IRS audit.

[Phlogistan]

Cool, now I'll have to get explosive permits to grow medicinal plants that will be taxed to support the wars on brown people...

[Almanian]

What puts a particularly gleeful look on my face about this is that my best friend and I grew all our own pot from 8th grade through, roughly, our freshman year in college. What did we use to help ensure a healthy, hearty, potent batch of "Michigan Ditch Weed?"?

Miracle Gro, of course.

AWESOME! Welcome back to the biz, Miracle Gro! You've been with us since the 70's, whether you knew it or not...

[Ska]

Yeah, I've definitely been there (except for me it was the 90s).

[Almanian]

Also, thanks, Peter. This helps salve my abused psyche cojones after Sullum's gratuitous Balko-esque sex-offender article nut punch.

Mmmm - pot. Tasty, delicious pot. Happy, happy, happy...

[AlmightyJB]

Scotts does not allow it's employees to smoke tobacco. At all, not just at work.

[Zuo]

This Hagedorn dudes sounds cool. A cussing fighter pilot who likes capitalism and wants to enter the cannabis-culture market? Recruit for office, plz.

[Dagny T.]

In high school, I worked in a hardware/garden store in BC and hydroponics were some of the biggest sellers. Pretty obvious when guys who were clearly Hell's Angels would come in, buy $600 worth of hydroponics and electrical wiring, and pay all in cash. (Damned if they weren't always respectful as hell to me, thugs or no.)

There are even more overt shops in BC that explicitly cater to grow-ops. It's obviously a huge market and potentially an underserved one in the US. Good on Miracle Gro for recognizing it.

[Almanian]

I worked in a hardware/garden store in BC

Did you guys roll around on stone wheels and stuff like in the comic?

BUT I KEEEED!

[Dagny T.]

Not that I would know from experience, but conventional wisdom has it that BC Bud > Michigan Ditch Weed, so who's laughing now, Almanian?

But then, the garbage you guys had back in the 70's is nothing compared to the super strong killer weed!!!11! of today.

[Daze]

This will become a prime example in the "capitalism is a force for good" rant I inflict on my lefty friends. Hooray for big corporations!

[Cytotoxic]

I was going to post what a good sign this was (and it really is), and wow I hadn't thought of that. A talking point for the ages.

[Virginia]

Marijuana use remains illegal under federal law, but federal raids on medical dispensaries have eased since President Obama took office.

I'm looking for stats to back that up. So far, no luck.

In need of a good laugh? check out the DEA's "legalization" page:
http://www.justice.gov/dea/ong.....ation.html

[goober1223]

I just read their "medical" marijuana facts page:

At this time, however, neither the medical community nor the scientific community has found sufficient data to conclude that smoked marijuana is the best approach to dealing with these important medical issues.

Okay, so we can't allow people to use sub-optimal medicinal delivery systems now?

Oh, and:

Unlike smoked marijuana--which contains more than 400 different chemicals [...]

Oh no! 400 chemicals? I bet my can of cheese whiz has more effing "chemicals" than that. Jesus christ...

[goober1223]

And here's their section on why legalization would be bad: http://www.justice.gov/dea/ongoing/alaska.html

The only thing they discussed in the 3 paragraphs was that teenagers were smoking twice as much as the national average. Not that people were dying in the streets or anything even negative. It's that teenagers had better access to it. And you know how dangerous drugs are. Oh wait, wasn't that what I was supposed to be demonstrating here? Crap...

[Mr Taser]

Don't grow me, bro!

[Art]

"This Hagedorn dudes sounds cool. A cussing fighter pilot who likes capitalism and wants to enter the cannabis-culture market? Recruit for office, plz."

Except for his explicit policy to drug test and fire employees who may be enjoying a legal drug like tobacco. Sounds like another hypocritcal nanny to me.

[Marc St. Stephen]

I go out of my way to use anything other than products made by Scotts. I cannot stomach giving business to a company whose policy on tobacco use, where allowed by law, is quinessentially, "we don't hire those kind of people"

I call on all cannabis growers, who might use scotts products for their trade, to declare, "We'll use your product when you stop descriminating against people for what pleasurable substances they use on their own time, be it legal or illegal"