NEVER MIND THE FEDERAL LAW WHEN A PROFIT CAN BE MADE

Apparently, the federal laws prohibiting the manufacture of pot means nothing to the makers of Miracle-Gro.

MIRACLE-GRO LOOKS TO TARGET MARIJUANA MARKET
By Howard Fischer

Capital Media Services
June 14, 2011

PHOENIX — The company that promises it will help you grow bigger tomatoes is showing some interest in helping you grow more potent pot.

“I want to target the pot market,” Jim Hagedorn, chief executive of Scotts Miracle-Gro company told the Wall Street Journal. “There's no good reason we haven't.”

But Hagedorn's desire to have his company become the first thing marijuana growers think of when planning their crop appears to be little more than aspirational, at least for the time being.

“Currently, this is one of many different niche markets the company might explore,” Scotts spokesman Lance Latham told Capitol Media Services. “But we have not actively pursued opportunities in this market.”

The need for some horticultural help for home hemp operations is particularly acute in Arizona.

State health officials, citing possible conflicts with federal law, are refusing to accept applications from individuals and companies interested in opening up one of 125 dispensaries mandated under last year's voter-approved law.

But they are continuing to process requests by individuals who have a doctor's recommendation that they would benefit from being able to use marijuana. And state law says these people are entitled to request to grow their own marijuana if there is no dispensary within 25 miles — which, for the time being, means all of the more than 5,000 people who are now “qualified patients.”

More to the point, the law allows each user to grow up to 12 plants at any one time. But there is no limit on the potency or the size of the plants.

And that's where good fertilizer could come in.

Latham said that Hagedorn's comments were part of a broader conversation where he was discussing the “vast diversity of lawn and garden consumers and why he believes it's important for us to explore and understand new opportunities in niche markets.”