Contrary to popular belief, legalizing weed is actually slowly killing the black market for it, rather than creating drugged out criminals. As marijuana is legalized state by state, for use and cultivation, the amount that is being carried over the borders via Mexican drug cartels has drastically decreased.
A recently released statistic report provided by the U.S Border Patrol showed a rapid drop in marijuana that has been captured at the border located between Mexico and the U.S. This decrease seems to be associated with the fact that dozens of states are now accepting marijuana use for both medical and recreational purposes.
The Washington Post reported that marijuana which has been confiscated at the southern border have decreased to the lowest point in over a decade- down to only 1.5 million pounds. In 2009 that amount was a staggering four million!
In an interview with Anti-Media, Amir Zendehnam, host of “In the Clear with Amir” on his cannabis-oriented network Z420.tv stated,
“The economics of the cannabis industry show us that with healthy competition in the market, prices drop, quality rises, violence diminishes, and peaceful transactions increase. As constant new research emerges detailing the plant’s benefits, the negative stigma of using cannabis, both medicinally and recreationally, is diminishing, raising the demand for a high-quality product.
“Colorado, for example, is experiencing an economic boom that has never been seen in the state. The biggest issue in Colorado today is what to do with the huge amounts of revenue and economic success the state is gaining as a result of legalization. The Colorado model has proven that legalization reduces crime rates, cuts prices, pushes unfavorable competition out of the market, provides cleaner products with heightened transparency, and increases the standard of living for society as a whole.
“The only people hurt by continued societal acceptance and legalization of cannabis are the cartels and their friends, who have flourished for decades as a result of drug prohibition.
“As legalization spreads across the U.S. and the rest of the world like wildfire, I predict the industry will soon become one of the most dominant and beneficial industries humanity has ever seen.”
And the new competition from legal states has taken a big bite out of the entire illicit Mexican marijuana food chain. “Two or three years ago, a kilogram [2.2 pounds] of marijuana was worth $60 to $90,” a cannabis farmer in Mexico said in an interview with NPR. “But now they’re paying us $30 to $40 a kilo. It’s a big difference. If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they’ll run us into the ground.”
And it’s not just the crime statistics that are changing, it is also the product. Since cheap low-quality Mexican cannabis is almost impossible to find in the states that now have legalized marijuana, prices continue to steadily decrease for high-quality pot.
And with a smaller flow of cannabis being trafficked throughout the country, Mexico can sleep a bit more soundly, as cartel violence and funds used for buying weapons will begin to slow down. 27,000 people were victims of murder related to drug war cartel violence in 2011, a toll with numbers far higher than the civilian death toll in the 15-year occupation that the U.S was involved with in Afghanistan.
This only goes to prove what many free thinking people have been saying for ages: the drug war is a failure! Making substances such as marijuana illegal doesn’t lessen the number or crimes and criminals associated with these drugs, instead, it creates more black market interaction which leads to more crime! And not to mention the incarceration rates that the drug war has produced, making America the country with the largest prison population worldwide.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What 1 Trillion Dollars And A 40 Year War Couldn’t Do
Author: Staff
Contact: Soren Dreier
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Soren Dreier
