Mexican Study: Marijuana Legalization Would Hurt Cartels -- Badly

By Chris Roberts Fri., Nov. 2 2012 at 8:10 AM

Backers of marijuana legalization measures on the ballot next week in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon -- sorry, California, but nobody ponied up the cash to give us the choice -- have an enemy with means: Mexican drug cartels, whose profits might dip as a result of legalization, according to a new study.

What the advocates have been saying for years.

Demand for marijuana grown in Mexico and smuggled over the border would decline so much that dealers' income from the drug would drop by 22 to 30 percent if the states vote to legalize, according to Mexican think tank Mexican Competitive Institute.

Legitimate, legal cannabis would sell for half as much as illicit Mexican weed, the think tank posits. That's "enormous," the usually marijuana-hating Los Angeles Times reported. That's also common knowledge among opponents of the drug war, who reacted to the study with a "duh."

As much as one-third of Mexican cartels' income stems from marijuana, the study says. The study doesn't say how cartels would react to the legalization of their cash crop in the United States -- would they become more violent; would they switch to blue meth? -- but it does believe that American-grown marijuana would be of better quality as well as cheaper.

Of the three legalization measures, Colorado's has the best chance of passage. Washington's I-502 includes a marijuana sobriety standard that cannabis advocates detest, and Oregon's appears poorly funded and has low visibility. That leaves the Rocky Mountain state, whose regulated, for-profit medical cannabis market may help otherwise-wary voters choose an end to marijuana prohibition there.

Legalization would hit one cartel the hardest, the study believes: the Sinaloa cartel, based in western Mexico, which handles most of the marijuana smuggled across the border, according to study author Alejandro Hope.

One-third of Mexican drug gangs' profits come from marijuana, the study claims. Cocaine is the second-most profitable drug.

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Tags:

cannabis, marijuana, marijuana sales, medical cannabis, medical marijuana

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Rawrface

American weed will beat the shit out of mexican dirtweed. There's a bill going on to pass MJ federally, google it!I HOPE IT PASSES. I really want to smoke outside after I munch at restaurants. Finally, I would be able to share my interests. Until then I'll be buying legal bud using the great reviews at Bong Pipes. Very detailed reviews and always knows where to get the good stuff! CHECK IT OUT! http://bongpipes.cu.cc/

cowboycody

Mendocino county marijuana growers, admit that they organized to defeat the 2010 California Proposition 19, Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act.

It's time to legalize medical marijuana and for our government to stop taking orders from the pharmaceutical industry.

MikeParent

The fact that MJ Legalization would severely hurt the Cartels is obvious to all, other than the Ignorant. Even the Prohibitionists KNOW it's true but are willing to CONTINUE to LIE about it so they can continue to reap financial gains from this MORALLY BANKRUPT policy.

esotericPharma

Sure, nobody has a crystal ball, but "pot is x% of cartel biz, so legalizing it will hurt them big" is a bogus argument… @annoyingcats

malcolmkyle16 topcommenter

1 Like

Prohibition has finally run its course: Our prisons are full, our economy is in ruins, the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of Americans have been destroyed or severely disrupted. What was once a shining beacon of liberty and prosperity has become a toxic, repressive, smoldering heap of hypocrisy and a gross affront to fundamental human decency.

Accordingly, it is now the duty of every last one of us to insure that the people who are responsible for this shameful situation are not simply left in peace to enjoy the wealth and status that their despicable actions have, until now, afforded them. Former and present Prohibitionists must not be allowed to remain untainted and untouched from the unconscionable acts that they have viciously committed on their fellow citizens. They have provided us with neither safe communities nor safe streets. We will provide them with neither a safe haven to enjoy their ill-gotten gains nor the liberty to repeat such a similar atrocity.