Oct 07, 2009
Cartels, Mexico, Washington Post
As reported on the front page of today’s Washington Post, domestic marijuana production is cutting into the bottom line of Mexican drug cartels while decades of police enforcement have failed to curb their growth.
The article states, "Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United States and Mexico ... Illicit pot production in the United States has been increasing steadily for decades. But recent changes in state laws that allow the use and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes are giving U.S. growers a competitive advantage, challenging the traditional dominance of the Mexican traffickers.”
Now imagine for a moment if we encouraged this trend, rather than fought it. If the U.S. adopted new policies giving states the option to create legally regulated domestic markets for marijuana, we could go a long way toward eliminating the violence and corruption along our southern border entirely -- and in the 230 American cities in which the cartels operate.
Under a legal and regulated system, the marijuana market -- which is already thriving -- would be safer, contribute billions to the American economy, and free up billions more in law enforcement resources.
Click here to read the article in today’s Washington Post.