MARIJUANA BY THE NUMBERS

4: Number of persons approved by the federal government to smoke
medical marijuana. (according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)

16: Number of medical-marijuana states.

750,000: Estimated number of qualified patients in California.
(according to NORML)

24.8 million: Estimated number of eligible patients under current state laws.

$1.7 billion: Estimated size of the annual medical-marijuana market
in the United States.

$8.9 billion: Forecast size of the annual U.S. medical-marijuana
market in 2016.

92: Percentage of the national medical-cannabis market located in
California and Colorado.

$1.3 billion: Size of California medical-cannabis market.

$100 million: Amount the California Board of Equalization estimates
it collects annually from the 8.75 percent sales tax levied on
medical-marijuana dispensaries.

$175,000: Estimated tax revenue from dispensary and permit sales in
the city of Sacramento.

$740,000: 2010 Oakland tax revenue from dispensary permits and sales.
(city of Oakland)

30,000: Estimated number of attendees at the International Cannabis &
Hemp Expo in September 2011, held for the first time in front of
Oakland City Hall.

$2.5 million: Amount the largest medical-marijuana collective in the
world, Harborside Health Center, owes the IRS, because the IRS says
medical cannabis dispensaries can't deduct business expenses.

$18 billion: Estimated size of the annual U.S. marijuana black market.

28 million: Estimated number of consumers of marijuana in the last
year. (U.S. Department of Justice)

9,000: Estimated number of full-time equivalent Drug Enforcement
Administration agent positions budgeted for 2011-12. (White House)

17,000 metric tons: Estimated annual marijuana production in the
United States. (according to the U.S. DOJ)

5,000 metric tons: Estimated annual marijuana production in the
United States. (according to RAND)

1: Percentage of total U.S. electricity generation estimated used by
indoor-pot cultivation. (Evan Mills, member, Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change)

$302.81: The average price of an ounce of high-quality weed in
California. (www.priceofweed.com, December 21, 2011)

$412.15: The average price of an ounce of high-quality weed in New York.

71.5: Percentage of U.S. teens who say cannabis is "fairly/very easy
to obtain." (National Institutes of Health)

67: Percentage of Americans thinking the "war on drugs" has been a
failure (Angus Reid Public Opinion Poll, August 2011).

1,200: Number of local chapters of the NAACP now working to end the
Drug War after the group voted in October 2011, to call for the war's
end. (NAACP)

50: Percentage of Americans supporting marijuana legalization. (Gallup)

97: Age of Doritos creator Arch West, who passed away in September 2011.

14.3 percent: Likelihood that a weekly cannabis smoker in the United
States is obese. (American Journal of Epidemiology, March 2011)

22 percent: Likelihood that a cannabis abstainer in the United States
is obese. (American Journal of Epidemiology, March 2011)

35,000: Number of doctors represented by the California Medical
Association who, in October 2011, called for legalization of
marijuana to increase research and reduce public harm. (CMA)

50-plus: Percentage of patients in a MediCann survey reported they
had used or were using marijuana as a substitute for prescription drugs. (RAND)

$3.1 million: Six-month overseas sales of Sativex-a marijuana throat
spray in stage-three clinical trials in the United States. (GW Pharmaceuticals)

131 billion: Base pairs of the cannabis sativa genome sequenced and
published for the first time. (Medicinal Genomics)

19: Percentage decrease in traffic-accident fatality rate of 20- to
29-year-olds associated with medical-marijuana legalization. (Daniel
Rees, University of Colorado, 2011)

$100: Fine for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in
California, starting January 1, 2011. (state of California)

35: Number of years it took to get possession downgraded from a
misdemeanor to an infraction in California.

$250: Room-cleaning fee for smoking pot in a San Francisco hotel.
(field reports)

6: Number of California city or county voter referendums or
initiatives to regulate dispensaries in 2011 and 2012.

5: Marijuana-related California initiatives seeking a spot on the
November 12, statewide ballot.

3: Number of pounds allowable for personal use under the Repeal
Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012, currently gathering signatures in California.

504,760: Validated signatures needed to qualify an initiative for
California ballot in November 2012. (Bill Zimmerman)

$1.5 million: Estimated cost to gather required amount of valid
signatures to get on the California ballot. (Zimmerman)

$34.4 million: Box-office receipts for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D
Christmas (www.rottentomatoes.com)

3.3 million: Number of viewers that tuned in to episode two of FX's
Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood and a pot-smoking talking dog. Wilfred
has been picked up for a second season.

2: Billboard chart rank for debut of Wiz Khalifa's April release
Rolling Papers, which went gold. The single "Roll Up" went platinum.
(Billboard, RIAA)