Sifter

Since the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) was started by the California Department of Justice in 1983, agents have seized an estimated 3,469,892 marijuana plants worth, according to the CDOJ, about $14 billion. Drug War proponents tout this figure as a measure of success, but we’ve got to wonder why the number of plants seized (likely a correlation to the number of plants being grown) has gone up almost every year for the past 10 years. In addition, 84 percent of the grows this year were attributed to gun-toting Mexican drug gangs, a problem that was unheard of when the CAMP program began. On the brighter side, CAMP is lately getting more bang for its bucks, which now come from federal government grants and property seizure profits.

Year # Plants seized Total Value CAMP budget* TD/P**

1983 64,759 $263,224,004 $?

1984 158,493 $646,017,468 $2 million $12.62

1985 166,219 $677,508,644 $2 million $12.03

1986 117,277 $478,021,052 $2 million $17.05

1987 144,661 $589,638,236 $2 million $13.83

1988 107,297 $437,342,572 $2 million $18.64

1989 147,518 $601,283,368 $2 million $13.56

1990 79,441 $323,801,516 $3 million $25.18

1991 85,189 $347,230,364 $?

1992 92,338 $376,369,688 $?

1993 94,221 $384,044,796 $?

1994 82,694 $337,060,744 $?

1995 74,769 $304,758,444 $?

1996 94,221 $384,044,796 $480,000 $5.09

1997 132,485 $540,008,860 $556,000 $4.20

1998 135,960 $554,172,900 $?

1999 241,164 $984,818,664 $?

2000 345,207 $1,407,063,732 $?

2001 313,776 $1,278,950,976 $?

2002 354,164 $1,443,572,464 $448,000 $.79

2003 466,054 $1,899,636,104 $615,000 $1.40

*Estimates culled from a variety of sources, including the state Budget Office and media reports. Data for all years was not available, but the program’s budget is thought to average around $500,000 per year.

**Taxpayer Dollars per Plant eradicated.