This is a tricky one because cannabis is considered an illicit street drug, and street drugs, whether or not we like to admit it, do play a fairly active role in crime of many kinds. That's the irony since it's a relatively harmless plant and for the most part makes people happy and easy-going, but drugs, violent crime, and even organized crime have always had close association, no doubt because large amounts of money are invovled.

In the U.S., marijuana is our number one home-grown cash crop. So a vast amount of it is grown here. The next biggest place where we import it from is Mexico and, yes, Central America, where it's grown in huge fields and comes over the border in compressed bricks. I live in Texas, and Mexican schwag is ubiquitous (everywhere) here. I'm sure cannabis is imported from other places, too, and it probably has connection at times with varying degrees of crimes (not counting the distribution, sale, transport and use of cannabis itself), but if you think about it, that's not any different if the weed originates here domestically or is imported from another country. The solution for cruelty-free cannabis, I suppose, is to grow it yourself on a small scale or make sure you're only accepting it from someone who does the same or knows its origins.

If you think about it, there are potential ethical questions with nearly everything we consume or use. Fuel and the environment--or the Middle East. Food for carnivores and animal cruelty. Vegetarian food and environmentally sound farming practices. Clothing and exploited third-world country factory workers. Gemstones/diamonds and bloodshed. The list goes on and on. You may have to make your peace with not contributing to crime on a personal level rather than worrying about whether, somewhere in the supply chain that provided the joint you toked on at a party, there was some sort of connection with cruelty.