Pot industry

(Alex Eben Meyer/The New York Times)

Jane Wells of CNBC keeps a blog called Funny Business. Her reports on California's medical marijuana industry amount to a primer on the business and how the operators of the estimated 500 dispensaries deal with the high risks and costs of working in a legal gray area (cnbc.com).

Medical marijuana is legal in California, but federal law still bans sales. Amid the uncertainty that this creates - including the occasional federal raid - a full-fledged industry has blossomed, taking in about $2 billion a year and generating $100 million in state sales taxes, CNBC reported.

Setting up a clinic "can cost as much as a hundred grand," Wells reports. The equipment, the cuttings from which plants are grown, and office space all tend to be expensive. And from there, the costs only grow, mostly in the form of legal fees.

Nonetheless, "this is the business model of the future," says JoAnna La Force of Farmacy, a herbal remedy shop in Southern California (medicalmarijuanafarmacy.com).

A slew of ancillary businesses has grown up around medical marijuana. Bill Britt, identified on the website as a patient, has found a new career as an expert witness in cases brought against dispensaries and patients, earning $250 to $350 a case. He gained his knowledge by attending Oaksterdam University in Oakland, Calif., (oaksterdamuniversity.com) where students can study "The Politics of Cannabis," botany, and business operations.

Getting into the marijuana business is a challenge, says Jeff Jones, chancellor of Oaksterdam's Los Angeles campus. But, he adds, "The investment is well worth it, except for the federal risk."

A DISTINCTION, OF SORTS: As air travel grows increasingly nightmarish even as it gets more expensive, Patrick Smith, writer of Salon's Ask the Pilot column, has been singing the praises of Southwest Airlines, the (relatively) cut-rate, bare-bones carrier (salon.com).

Southwest recently took first place in a satisfaction survey conducted by the University of Michigan.

Smith's initial explanation was this: "People don't expect much. Southwest Airlines is nothing if not unpretentious" and has "mastered the art of get-what-you-pay-for satisfaction."

His readers thought otherwise. Many wrote that, though Southwest dispenses with a lot of perks, it offers a basic level of customer service that bigger airlines often do not.

BACK ON DRUGS: As a test of airport security, a customs officer planted marijuana in a random suitcase at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, the BBC reports (news.bbc.co.uk).

The test failed when the sniffer dogs were unable to detect the pot. But the officer could not remember which bag he had used. Using an actual passenger's suitcase is against regulations, and the airport's customs service has apologized.

Meanwhile, the marijuana is still out there. "Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials," according to the BBC. So far, nobody has spoken up.

Dan Mitchell writes for The New York Times.