What Small-Scale Cannabis Growers Look Like Across 11 Countries | Research

The takeaway

A survey of 6,530 cannabis cultivators across 11 countries found most were primarily motivated by personal use rather than profit, with minimal involvement in other criminal activities, challenging the stereotype of cannabis growers as criminals.

Read this if you are interested in who grows cannabis and how cultivation policies could be designed more proportionately.

Majority grew for personal use, not profit, across all 11 countries

What the researchers found

The Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium surveyed 6,530 predominantly small-scale cannabis growers from 11 countries about their demographics, methods, motivations, and criminal justice contacts.

The findings were remarkably consistent across countries: most growers came from "normal" rather than "deviant" backgrounds. The clear majority were motivated by reasons other than profit, primarily personal use and self-sufficiency.

Minimal involvement in drug dealing or other criminal activities was reported. Some cross-country differences existed, suggesting that local political, geographical, and cultural factors influence how cultivators operate, but the core profile of the personal-use grower was consistent globally.

Why it matters

Drug policy often treats cannabis cultivation as organized crime. This survey showed that most small-scale growers are ordinary people growing for personal use, with profiles very different from commercial drug dealers. This distinction is relevant for proportionate enforcement and legalization design.

The numbers in context

6,530 respondents; 11 countries; majority motivated by personal use; minimal involvement in drug dealing; consistent demographic profiles across countries

How the study worked

Online survey of 6,530 cannabis cultivators from 11 countries conducted by the Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium. Descriptive statistics highlighted similarities and differences across national samples.

What this study cannot tell us

Online recruitment creates selection bias (more tech-savvy, English-speaking growers over-represented). Self-reported data may understate criminal involvement. Different recruitment strategies across countries complicate cross-national comparisons. Non-probability sample.

How to read the evidence

Large international sample providing valuable descriptive data, but online recruitment and self-selection bias limit generalizability.

When this study was published

Published in 2015. Cannabis legalization in several countries has since created legal frameworks for personal and commercial cultivation.

The bigger picture

As countries design cannabis legalization frameworks, understanding who actually grows cannabis is important. Policies that treat all cultivation as serious crime may disproportionately target low-risk individuals while failing to address commercial trafficking.

Questions still open

How do commercial-scale growers differ from the personal-use growers in this sample? Would legalization shift cultivation from personal to commercial growing? How should cultivation laws distinguish between personal and commercial operations?

Common questions

Who grows cannabis?

This survey found that small-scale growers across 11 countries were demographically similar: mostly male, employed, motivated by personal use rather than profit, and minimally involved in other criminal activities. They came from "normal" rather than "deviant" backgrounds.

Do most growers sell cannabis?

No. The clear majority in this survey were primarily motivated by personal use and self-sufficiency rather than commercial supply. Most had minimal involvement in drug dealing or other criminal activities.

Read the original research

Global patterns of domestic cannabis cultivation: sample characteristics and patterns of growing across eleven countries.

The International journal on drug policy, 26(3), 226-37

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Potter, Gary R; Barratt, Monica J; Malm, Aili; Bouchard, Martin; Blok, Thomas; Christensen, Anne-Sofie; Decorte, Tom; Frank, Vibeke Asmussen; Hakkarainen, Pekka; Klein, Axel; Lenton, Simon; Perälä, Jussi; Werse, Bernd; Wouters, Marije. (2015). Global patterns of domestic cannabis cultivation: sample characteristics and patterns of growing across eleven countries.. The International journal on drug policy, 26(3), 226-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.12.007