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How Legal Pot Could Save Thousands of Lives? Hint: Stop Feeding the Mexican Death Cartels
AlterNet / By Jamie Haase
How Legal Pot Could Save Thousands of Lives? Hint: Stop Feeding the Mexican Death Cartels
For over forty years, ganja has been the steadiest and most reliable source of income for Mexican traffickers, and its still the primary substance that lures most dealers.
January 12, 2012 |
As the marathon to legalize marijuana plows forward, a key to winning over many of the leftover prohibitionists might lie within two questions: exactly how significant is the illicit pot trade in the violence south of the border, and what are the long-term implications for Americans as a result of Mexicos indefinite narco war? Being a former federal agent who has worked on the border and enforced the U.S.s drug laws, I know that neither of these can be answered with exact precision, but one can hope that illustrating the obvious will at least get us closer to the finish line.
As for the first question, the vastness of the southern border makes it impossible to determine the absolute value of marijuana to the drug cartels, or Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) for the trendy types. Most smuggled goods breeze by U.S. law enforcement undetected, with authorities most likely snagging just 15 percent of the incoming dope on their best days. This is through no fault of their own though, as the hellish terrain of the southwest makes it impossible for cops and feds to cover adequately. Especially for the fact that the dividing line is nearly 2,000 miles longand its mostly filled with rivers, rocks, mountains, and tunnels. Taking the unknowns of the border into account, along with the biggest factorbeing that the marijuana industry is completely uncontrolled and off the books when it comes to any sort of regulationit is clear why its unpractical to determine the substances exact profit margins on the bankrolls of Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Though that didnt deter a research group last year from conjuring up a magic number at the last minutejust in time to help sink a marijuana legalization ballot initiative (more on that in a minute).
Lets forget the speculation and get to certainties: what is plain as day is the fact that the demand for cannabis sativa is responsible for more deaths in Mexico than anything elseand after half a decade of unrelenting bloodshedthe body count just recently surpassed the 50,000 mark. Personally, thats a bitter pill to swallow considering 50 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be outright legalized, according to Gallups most recent poll from October 2011.
For over forty years, ganja has been the steadiest and most reliable source of income for Mexican traffickers, and its still the primary substance that lures most wannabe sicarios into the drug running game. Most green-horn dope peddlers dont get their start by transporting tons of coke at a time; rather, they have to earn their stripes by moving up the marijuana food chainand many dont make it past that point in their careers to begin with. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/153755/how_legal_pot_could_save_thousands_of_lives_hint%3A_stop_feeding_the_mexican_death_cartels_/
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How Legal Pot Could Save Thousands of Lives? Hint: Stop Feeding the Mexican Death Cartels (Original Post)
marmar
Jan 2012
OP
kemah
(276 posts)1. Which group of people voted against pot legalization? Northern Cal pot growers
Oklahoma was the last state to repeal prohibition. It was stated in Ken Burns' documentary about prohibition. The religious right and the moon shiners kept voting against repealing. Both groups for different reasons.
Uncle Joe
(58,299 posts)2. The author provides an excellent perspective from the inside and front lines as to the folly
of this Sisyphean inspired endeavor.
Legalize cannabis and quit throwing money and lives down the rat hole.
Thanks for the thread, marmar.