Finances of the Mexican drug cartel damaged significantly by Colorado marijuana legalization

[Roma_Victrix]

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado Is Killing Mexican Drug Cartels

Hyperbolic article title aside, this seems obvious, doesn't it? If you legalize a drug that was sold for outrageous prices due to its illicit nature (which requires great legal risk on behalf of those transporting and selling it), then the peddlers who once made a killing by selling it for whatever price they wanted now have to compete with a legal market. Removing the criminality of it not only undercuts the power of violent criminal organizations like the Mexican Cartel, but it also keeps "non-violent" offenders from being incarcerated and ruining their lives and career choices forever because they bought a bag of weed once when they were 19.

So is this good news or what? The article does throw a little curveball caveat at the end, though:

In the same ABC News article, it was revealed that some federal authorities are concerned that Colorado may have given drug traffickers a safe haven who buy or grow weed within the state and then sell these in other places where the product is banned. The violators come from various locations like Mexico, Cuba and other nearby states. Legalizing marijuana in Colorado may have made it easier for drug traffickers to transport the product to nearby areas, which is a concern.

That may be the case, but at the very least that money isn't going to Mexico and into the coffers of such charming individuals as El Chapo.

[Prodromos]

You could also bankrupt the cartels by not buying their drugs.

[Mithradates]

You could also bankrupt the cartels by not eating avocado.

I cant understand why weed needs to be illegal, makes no sense.

[Roma_Victrix]

You could also bankrupt the cartels by not buying their drugs.

Ah yes, the Nancy Reagan "just say no" approach. That has worked so well since 1982, hasn't it? Fact is a certain percentage of kids are always going to do drugs, especially when they are considered taboo by their parents and the adult world. Teenage kids will always do the opposite of what their parents tell them to do. It's called rebelling. That and some people simply like to get high or just have addictive personality disorders. Either way, the "Just Say No" campaign is about as effective as the abstinence campaign, which tells kids never to use a condom and do not have sex before marriage. That proposal has worked so well in the past, hasn't it?

[HannibalExMachina]

wow, you mean, like alcohol smuggling became pointless after the end of the prohibition? what a surprise!

now, if people only realized that drug crime is only possible because criminals run the drug market, and 1 and 1 is 2, we could make some headway.

[Odenat]

Yep, let's replace cartels with the government selling drugs to our children. At least, police was fighting against cartels. Who'll protect our children from the government? The drug money is not going to Mexico, it goes nowadays to the corrupt state officials.

[irontaino]

I would go even further, if it were up to me, ALL drugs would be legalized and regulated. Not like the legals ones being pushed now are any less dangerous/addictive than the illegal stuff.

[Prodromos]

Ah yes, the Nancy Reagan "just say no" approach. That has worked so well since 1982, hasn't it? Fact is a certain percentage of kids are always going to do drugs, especially when they are considered taboo by their parents and the adult world. Teenage kids will always do the opposite of what their parents tell them to do. It's called rebelling. That and some people simply like to get high or just have addictive personality disorders. Either way, the "Just Say No" campaign is about as effective as the abstinence campaign, which tells kids never to use a condom and do not have sex before marriage. That proposal has worked so well in the past, hasn't it?

I'm just saying it's a ridiculous argument for legalization to say that it would destroy the cartels. Very few people are literally forced to buy or consume drugs. "You might as well legalize it!" is nonsensical. You can bankrupt all the cartels simply by not buying their stuff, legal or not.

[Henry of Grosmont]

I'm not sure that weed can bankrupt them. Shall we call BS?

[Vanoi]

You could also bankrupt the cartels by not buying their drugs.

The War on Drugs failed a long time ago.

This is great news, but the cartels have just diversified and are increasingly making industrial quantities of meth. Marijuana is still the cartels most smuggled drug. More legalization would hurt this and force the cartels to give it up.

No criminal drug organization can compete with a legitimate business.

[Prodromos]

I'm not sure that weed can bankrupt them. Shall we call BS?

Marijuana and other drugs as well as things like prostitution. The general solution among certain people is to simply legalize everything so that the money goes to businesses and governments instead of criminals. As for the damage that happens to the people who use these things, who cares?

You can argue that the only reason to legalize these things is freedom. But it is stupid to claim that they have any net benefits to society.

[Vanoi]

What damage is marijuana doing to society? A shortage of Doritos?

[Henry of Grosmont]

What damage is marijuana doing to society? A shortage of Doritos?

+1

@Dr.Legend
I'm not sure you are aware what marijuana is... Anyway, my point was that even in the extreme case that they are unable to sell weed in the States at all, it won't bankrupt them. It just can't...
Also, legalising prostitution would at least help the prostitutes. And I dobn't see how is that a bad thing.

[Prodromos]

What damage is marijuana doing to society? A shortage of Doritos?

+1

@Dr.Legend
I'm not sure you are aware what marijuana is...

This is as bad as teenagers who have unprotected sex and think nothing could go wrong. You think marijuana is harmless? Hardly a month goes by without a new study linking it to a physical harm.

Anyway, my point was that even in the extreme case that they are unable to sell weed in the States at all, it won't bankrupt them. It just can't...
Also, legalising prostitution would at least help the prostitutes. And I dobn't see how is that a bad thing.

Know what else could help prostitutes? Not being prostitutes.

[Vanoi]

This is as bad as teenagers who have unprotected sex and think nothing could go wrong. You think marijuana is harmless? Hardly a month goes by without a new study linking it to a physical harm.

Like this one?

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/...owers-iq-teens

No one said marijuana was harmless. I asked what damage it is doing to society as a whole, not the individual.

[Henry of Grosmont]

This is as bad as teenagers who have unprotected sex and think nothing could go wrong. You think marijuana is harmless? Hardly a month goes by without a new study linking it to a physical harm.

Vanoi beat me to it
I have to say that it's quite strange that there's very little outrage concerning tobacco and alcohol but weed gets absolutely unwaranted flame.

Know what else could help prostitutes? Not being prostitutes.

Is it so simple? Well, then it seems you can fix all the problems and unjustices our society has.
Try to be honest for a second and think about the rea lworld issues.

[green tea]

About prostitution: it is legal in Germany now for some years. And it has changed nothing. Those people that went there always will go there, and the others still wont because it is unsexy and unmanly (and unethical). Same with drugs. If they legalize crystal meth, I will still not try it. If somebody is so dumb to try it, he would be that dumb also if it was illegal. Or he would try something similar stupid to kill his mind. For example alcohol. And about marijuana: so many normal people I know take it or have taken it. If it would cause all those damages to the mind, body and society that some people believe it does, Armageddon would have happenened long ago. It may not be harmless, but it is less dangerous than a unit of screeching women against a unit of pretorians with full armor upgrades.

[Prodromos]

What is bad for a large percentage of individuals is bad for society. Tobacco and alcohol already are demonized and regulated to death. But even if not, how do two wrongs make a right? Just because one bad thing's allowed doesn't mean all other bad things are OK. Whatever you can gain from drugs can be gained in other ways.

Ironically this push to portray marijuana as harmless, coupled with the push to legalize it, is absolutely the worst possible combination. You can argue that it should be legal because freedom but it shouldn't be used (as is the case with unhealthy behavior in general), but encouraging people to literally do drugs while making it easy and legal to acquire them sounds like either an attempt to destroy society from within or a severe case of short-sightedness.

[snuggans]

You think marijuana is harmless? Hardly a month goes by without a new study linking it to a physical harm.

this is true but a lot of these studies are jokes employing flawed methodology like honesty tests and always concluding with correlation rather than causation, mostly because they can't get their hands on research-grade marijuana and actually administer it to patients since marijuana is schedule I.

there's a lot of money coming from the tobacco, timber, pulp and paper industries and religious groups buying politicians and studies. most studies on marijuana are oriented towards investigating the harmful effects and not the positive, therapeutic or medicinal ones.

some pretty good news from the OP's article

[paleologos]

How about the finances of the prison-industrial complex?
Were they hurt at all?
No research about that?