The pressure, Friend said, led them to try growing marijuana in their aquaponic system. Half a year later, in August 2009, Friendly landed Costco as a customer and began delivering 400 pounds of lettuce to the store in Kailua-Kona every week. The farm was making a profit selling organic lettuce for $6.99 a pound — $1 less than a mainland brand, Friend said. "We were on our way," she said. "The demand was so great." Annual revenue in the first year with Costco was $96,000 and headed toward $200,000 in the second year, Friend said. Expansion plans were drawn up to produce 1,400 pounds of lettuce a week.?

But then federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents came calling. "I?was trying to save my farm in a stupid way,"?Friend said. "We sullied our name." Friend and Mann had agreed to grow marijuana for Roger Christie, a Hilo resident and church founder who promoted marijuana use under religious freedom. Friend and?Mann, along with Christie and others, were arrested in July 2010. - See more at: http://www.japan-aquaponics.com/economi ... QCeMT.dpuf