Jennings' 'Pot of Gold' Spotlights
Marijuana Farming

By WALTER GOODMAN

Wherever he looks, Peter Jennings, our guide to Thursday night's
allAmerican garden tour, finds marijuana plants being tended
with diligence, affection and hope. He provides tips along the way on
proper cultivation (plenty of light, not too much water), but, as the
program's title, "Pot of Gold," hints, his interest is less in horticulture
than in the economics of what he says may be America's biggest cash crop.
In the Pacific Northwest, he is told, for an investment of less
than $2,000, the indoor gardener can make $200,000 a year tax free.
Twentysomething entrepreneurs have joined together in this
cottage, or ranch house, industry. One of them comments that whoever it was
who said money doesn't grow on trees didn't know "what trees to look at."
We also meet the area's Johnny Potseed, who is on a mission to
subvert laws against marijuana.
A Midwestern couple who describe themselves as Rush Limbaugh
Republicans ("We're kind of Main Street U.S.A., apple pie, mom and
pop. ... We're not hippies.") are doing their growing in their basement,
using seeds selected at an Amsterdam marijuana trade fair, the Cannabis
Cup. (Jennings reports that you can save yourself a trip and order on the
Internet.) So far the nonhippies haven't made any money; maybe fans of
Limbaugh are greenthumbchallenged.
And in Georgia, the program focuses on a county of farmers who are
trying to beat hard times by producing a crop known for high times.
Unlike corn, a grower explains, marijuana has a seller's market. The local
sheriff seems to have been elected on a nosee, nosmell platform. "And
how tough were you on marijuana growers after you were elected sheriff?"
inquires Jennings. The sheriff answers, "Uh."
Although the heads of growers are either cut off by the camera or
concealed in shadows to avoid implicating the guilty, none seem to be
hopheads. They are just out to make a dishonest dollar. One young
woman says, "It's not hurting anyone, you know." And neither Jennings
nor the program take an admonitory tone.
It would be surprising if Thursday night's lighthearted
contribution to ABC's month of antidrug programming did not attract new
recruits to a smallrisk, profitpromising line of work that gives folks a
chance to get their hands dirty.

PRODUCTION NOTES:

'PETER JENNINGS REPORTING'

Pot of Gold

10 p.m. ET Thursday on ABC

Tom Yellin, executive producer; Martin Smith, producer; Peter
Jennings, anchor.