I read a story the other day that said Mexican drug cartels have seen a 70% dip in profits from marijuana. The article attributed that drop in profits to the legalization of recreational marijuana in America. I personally feel that there are more factors than that involved, but agree that marijuana legalization hurts cartels. There are only four states (and D.C.) that have legalized, and the four states don’t have huge populations. Sales haven’t even started in Alaska yet, so I have always felt that medical marijuana is a larger factor. Medical marijuana is legal in almost two dozen states, and a lot of those patients are now consuming domestic marijuana, as opposed to the cartel marijuana from years past. But that’s just my two cents.
Regardless of the various factors and what they are, again, I agree that recreational marijuana legalization hurts cartels. If California, Arizona, and Nevada (and maybe New Mexico via legislative action) all legalized, it would be a huge blow to the Mexican drug cartels. What would also hurt the cartels is legalization in Mexico. That’s something that Mexico City’s Mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera, agrees with. Per an article that Tom Angell posted on Marijuana.Com:
“My position is always the defense of freedoms,” Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told El Universal. “I do support legalization.”
Under legalization, the marijuana trade “would not be attractive for purposes of drug trafficking,” the mayor of Mexico’s capital city said, adding that “it would be a blow” to the cartels that currently control the illegal market.
(All quotations automatically translated by Google from the original Spanish.)
Mancera has indicated he may run for Mexico’s presidency in 2018, telling El Universal that if elected he would seek to enact national cannabis law reforms.
There’s a lot going on right now in Mexico from a marijuana reform standpoint. Mexico’s Supreme Court recently ruled that cultivating and consuming cannabis is a basic right, and while that case doesn’t legalize marijuana, it does create case law that other people accused of marijuana offenses can rely upon. Mexico is set to have the first of a handful of marijuana reform debates later this month. And now you have the mayor of Mexico’s largest city coming out in support of marijuana legalization. Reform is coming to Mexico, and when it happens it will be a victory so huge that it could create a massive domino effect.
