The housing market is definitely still struggling in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the marijuana market is experiencing a real “bubble” as pot growers take over abandoned and foreclosed homes and turn entire domiciles into pot farms[1]. “All those empty homes present an opportunity for criminal activity,” explains criminologist William Sousa, pointing out that the pot farmers are essentially just moving in where there is a void. “You can’t have crime without opportunity,” he added. Local busts and drug seizures have skyrocketed, with local authorities taking down 153 indoor grow sites in 2010 versus 18 in 2005. Cultivators simply turn small, cheap homes into greenhouses, often purchasing the homes outright. “With this market, it’s almost a free-for-all right now,” said Las Vegas police lieutenant Laz Chavez, explaining that locally- and hydroponically-grown weed can sell for quadruple what Mexican marijuana nets[2].

Possibly more disconcerting to the locals than the marijuana, however, are the stashes of assault weapons found in many of the converted greenhouses. Chavez points out that the presence of weapons indicates that the growers are “dangerous criminal groups” rather than small-time, “fun-loving hippies.”

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[1] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pot-homes-20111113,0,574959.story

[2] http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/marijuana-fills-foreclosed-homes-las-vegas-area-article-1.976943