Flutterby™! : Mexico, Marijuana, and legalization in the U.S. 2013-05-03 23:05:56.207757+00

Mexico, Marijuana, and legalization in the U.S.

2013-05-03 23:05:56.207757+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Institute for Mexico Competitiveness: Rule of law & security: Possible impact of legalizing marihuana in the U.S.:

... United States is currently a net importer of marijuana. But in terms of legality created in one or more states could meet most of its domestic demand with domestic production. In this scenario materialize, would be facing the largest structural shock suffered by drug traffickers in Mexico since the massive arrival of cocaine in the late eighties. There is considerable uncertainty about the effect a substantial loss of income might have on the behavior of Mexican criminal organizations and, therefore, on the security environment in Mexico. ...

Rand: Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico: Would Legalizing Marijuana in California Help?:

If marijuana is smuggled from California to other states, it could undercut sales of Mexican marijuana in much of the U.S., cutting DTOs' marijuana export revenues by more than 65 percent and probably by 85 percent or more. In this scenario, the DTOs would lose approximately 20% of their total drug export revenues.

You wanna make Mexico more secure and a better neighbor, and work towards building a trading partner rather than a supplier of undocumented labor? Legalize marijuana.

Via.

I agree with you that the substance should be legalized for any number of reasons. But I don't see a significant drop in the crime rate as a result for a decade or more. There will be tens of thousands of drug industry unemployed. With few saleable skills, they are likely to turn to other types of crime.

Of course, the longer we take to legalize pot, the worse the consequences of the only viable solution will get.

I think, though, that the most violent of the criminals would have their means of financial support removed. If the cartels no longer have huge income from outside of the country, they can't really pull that same income from inside Mexico 'cause the domestic economy isn't there. Which means that they'll lack the same influence, and just be violent thugs, not violent thugs with money.