Marijuana growers believe Ganesha is their patron saint

The New Yorker has a long, fascinating article about the entrepreneurs who grow medical marijuana in California. This detail stood out:

While Blue napped, I wandered around his apartment, and counted nearly a dozen images and carvings of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha. The proliferation of Ganesha dates back to a well-publicized federal bust in January, 2007, when the D.E.A. seized the medicine and cash of eleven pot dispensaries in Los Angeles. The only major dispensary that wasn’t busted had a Ganesha in its window. Now it is hard to find a karmically inclined ganja dealer in Los Angeles who doesn’t own a herd of lucky figurines.

Read the whole article by David Samuels here.

(Marble Ganesha idol found at Flickr.)

*Previously: Ganesha plush.

*Find Ganesha statues at eBay.