UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 26 MAY 2016
Growing numbers of cannabis-cultivating working class men is a result of the economic crash and fewer manufacturing jobs, new research by Birmingham City University and Teesside University has suggested.
Researchers Dr James Treadwell and Craig Ancrum conducted research in the Midlands and North-East, holding interviews with individuals organising cannabis growing operations, ranging from those involved with a substantial number of small grow houses to those with larger scale enterprises worth tens of thousands of pounds.
“Participants revealed that with traditional forms of working class work such as manufacturing disappearing, there are very few legitimate jobs that offer a salary such as that for such limited labour in growing and dealing cannabis”, said Dr James Treadwell, senior lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University.
One participant said: "Everyone’s into it now. Growing weed is the biggest employer round here. If you took it away, there really would be poverty. In terms of industry there is nothing else left here."
The research has enabled the academics to discover how and why individuals become embroiled in the contemporary cannabis cultivation industry.
Another participant said: "I’ve grew up with it. I knew it was how me mam and dad got their money and it was just always there. They always smoked green in the house, it was just normal. I even used to go with him to grow houses as a kid. I've never had a proper job. If I could get a job that paid as well as growing the green I would, but that’s not going to happen is it?"
"Our research found that the world of cannabis cultivation is one of men on the edge of social exclusion, clawing themselves into a better position by exploiting the limited illicit opportunities around them, and turning to one of Britain’s few viable, profitable and available home-grown industries as a means of sustaining the ‘lush life’ they desire”, said Craig Ancrum, senior lecturer in Criminology at Teesside University.