Is Marijuana Saving Adelanto?

Adelanto is in San Bernardino County just outside of Victorville, Ca. It has lost the Georgia Air Force Base in 92 and has not seen good times since. Recently the down was $2.6 million in the hole and they have elected to become a marijuana cultivation zone which is put them in the in the black or should we say green. The population according to the census is 33,000 with 1% in prison. It has been known as a prison city since it has a privately run detention facility as big employer. The city was founded about a 100 years ago by the inventor of the toaster and iron. The current population is about 50% Hispanic and 30% African-American, but almost half live below the poverty line. Around its 100 anniversary it joined Desert Hot Springs in allowing medical marijuana on an industrial scale. Land prices in the cultivation zone have sky rocketed 1000% from $300k to $3 million for parcels in the allowed area. The city has licensed 40 new facilities and it now rests its hopes on a weed. Currently eight states have legalized recreational marijuana and twenty nine approve medical use. Adelanto and other struggling cities in California are banking on a new “green wave”, which is a Federal crime. We will see if this sticks long term. Industrial hemp may have been a better first start as it is clearly a more green for the environment, while marijuana is a smoking drug with many issues that surround it.