Miracle Gro

It’s hardly surprising that Big Business would want to cash in on
some of the estimated $1.7 billion that medical marijuana is currently earning on a yearly basis – and business forecasters estimate the potential growth will reach 8.9 billion dollars within the next 5 years.

Must be a sign of the times.

A recent Wall Street Journal article, written by Dana Mattioli, interviewed Jim Hagedorn, CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, who openly expressed his desire to target marijuana to help boost sales for his mainstream company.

“I want to target the pot market.” Hagedorn said.  “There’s no good reason we haven’t.”

Because raids on some grow operations have turned up Scotts products, Hagedorn believes that brand recognition for his product already exists. He would be well advised to read some of the marijuana-based blogs regarding his product line, first.

Debates rage over Miracle-Gro’s effectiveness in marijuana cultivation because of the high level of chemical fertilizers which show up in lab tests of the finished product.

The debate is still also raging of whether or not products can be flushed from plants so they can be safely ingested by smoking or vaporization – quite different than ingestion. Those marketing the products claim “no worries” – purest cultivators would NEVER – EVER be caught using it – for what they feel is “obvious” reasons.

Ironically, many of the soil companies that are making a financial killing from marijuana farmers, are reluctant to acknowledge the industry.

Hydro stores are routinely warned that their vendors will close their dealer accounts if they distribute marijuana cultivation literature in their stores.

It is interesting to note that several federal laws have been introduced that would make marijuana more business friendly, including legislation that would allow normal business deductions on federal tax returns, and easing the restrictions on banks that keep Wells Fargo, Citibank, and the Bank of America from accepting deposits from dispensaries and related businesses.

Patricia Smith

Grass Roots Solutions

psmith@grassrootssolutions.org