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Value of Output to
Cost Ratio*
PQ/C
driven entirely by the number of busts in each
region. Increased enforcement arising from local
conditions are much more likely to have an
impact in a region than they are in the overall
scheme of things.
Potential British Columbia
marijuana exports
Using the estimate of the number of grow-ops
from table 4 will also allow an estimate of the total
quantity of marijuana grown in British Columbia.
Contrasted with the implicit demand of table 1, it
gives a rough and ready sense of the level of exports
by the industry. In table 6 the first column
reports different possible output to cost ratios
that are reasonable in assessing the British Columbia
marijuana industry. Each of these num-
PUBLIC POLICY SOURCES, NUMBER 74
Table 6: The Export Consequences of
Different Estimates of the Number of Grow-Ops
Number of
Grow-Ops*
Marijuana Production
in British Columbia
(metric tons)**
Marijuana Exports***
from British Columbia
(metric tons)
Appendix BCUC IR1 74.1
Retail Bulk Value
of Exports****
(Billions of dollars)
5.0 4,308 102 72 0.36
4.5 4,529 108 77 0.39
4.0 4,828 115 84 0.42
3.5 5,250 125 94 0.47
3.0 5,895 140 109 0.55
2.5 7,000 166 136 0.68
2.0 9,333 222 191 0.96
1.9 10,150 241 211 1.05
1.8 11,200 266 236 1.18
1.7 12,600 299 269 1.34
1.6 14,560 346 315 1.58
1.5 17,500 416 385 1.93
1.4 22,400 532 502 2.51
1.3 32,200 765 735 3.67
1.2 61,600 1,464 1,433 7.17
*See table 4 for the basis of the estimates.
**Assume 33.3 grams per plant and 180 plants per grow-op (Plecas et al.), and 4 crops per year.
***British Columbia exports are BC production less BC consumption. National consumption from table 1. BC consumption is 13 percent of
the national total, adjusted for consumption per user or 30,600 kg.
****Assumed price of $5,000 per kg. (see table 2).
bers gives rise to an estimate of the number of
grow-ops in the second column. The third column
derives the implied quantity of production
(measured in metric tons) associated with each of
the estimates of the number of grow-ops. Since
exports from British Columbia are the quantity of
production less the amount absorbed domestically
within the province, the estimate of the
quantity of exports is generated by using the production
figure of column four with the consumption
from table 1 adjusted for the size of the
province of British Columbia.
The value of exports is measured at an assumed
price of $5,000 (Canadian) per kilogram. This is a
bulk value since it is purchased and shipped in
quantity rather than cigarette by cigarette. Of
course the value of the exports at final sale will
The Fraser Institute 19 Marijuana Growth in British Columbia