While it may not be traded on Wall Street any time soon, marijuana has become a booming cash crop. CNBC's Trish Regan goes behind the scenes to explore the inner workings of this secretive industry, focusing on Northern California's "Emerald Triangle," now the marijuana capital of the U.S. In this scenic pocket of America, the pot business, much of it legal under state law, now makes up as much as two-thirds of the local economy.
INSIDE AMERICA'S POT INDUSTRY
Field of Green Northern California’s Mendocino County. A picture postcard of the far west and the site of a controversial, profitable and increasingly violent criminal enterprise... the marijuana trade. Officials estimate it accounts for up to two-thirds of the local economy and generates up to $1 billion a year.
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Blue Sky Café Ever visit a marijuana dispensary? The Blue Sky Café in Oakland is a one-stop-pot-shop. Owner Richard Lee offers a marijuana menu of four pot varieties and specialized food.
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The Smuggler Bruce Perlowin, a "nice Jewish boy" from Florida turned "Marijuana Kingpin," ran one of the biggest drug smuggling operations of all time. He smuggled almost a billion dollars of pot right under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
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Currently, 13 states have laws on the books stating it’s not a crime to possess small amounts of marijuana. Internationally, other countries have similar legislation.
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