https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-mexico-police-f6ea7798ca3cc171ac13b3a5a6a6c266
Yep. Legalization plus an amnesty.
It is just stupid. People will find drugs yes or yes. I don't use coke and I don't like when some of my friends use it because they behave nasty, but they will keep getting is legally or illegaly
Legalize drugs in usa and europe. Import coca leaf if can't be grown locally and manufacture the coke. Where the cartels will sell if they don't have customers?
Cartels are more entrenched into Mexican society than just drugs. Move away drugs and they'll probably still fight for control of other industries.
100% this - criminal gangs will just move to extortion and whatever else they can if drugs is no longer an option.
Loved that film.
Sure. But they certainly won’t be able to build up a brand new similarly profitable industry from scratch. So they’d have to downsize massively and could take them decades to recover (realistically they’ll never reach the same size again)
Excellent film. Cannot wait for Dune. Same director.
Agreed. They would not have near as much money if they concentrated on avocados, which is part of their industry. Not kidding.
I agree with that and I also agree that the best way to deal with then situation would be to legalise the drug trade however these guys are thugs and organised criminals - they will still be thugs and criminals if the drug trade changed.
Plus, there is still a financial incentive for selling drugs on the black market: they are not subject to exorbitant taxes levied by the state.
Emily Blunt in Sicario has to be the most annoying character ever cast.
I don't know what it's like in the US but the taxes aren't exorbitant here.
I dont think it would matter. There is a huge demand for narcotics in America. That is what is driving it in Mexico. If America and Canada was just water, you would not have near the levels of cartels in Mexico. As i read, Mexico is essentially the middleman between South American drugs and America, although they grow their own heroin in Mexico now. But i dont think it is as potent as Asia heroin.
So I know that in California, combined taxes on marijuana can be as high as 33%. That's just at the state level, if the Feds come in they'll probably slap an extra 20% on it.
Make Drugs in America Again (MDAA)
I don't buy the taxes thing, as a smoker myself in the UK if it was legalised and they shoved a 30% tax on top of the standard price, the ease of purchase, selection available would instantly make the tax irrelevant.So I know that in California, combined taxes on marijuana can be as high as 33%. That's just at the state level, if the Feds come in they'll probably slap an extra 20% on it.
Going to LA in 2 weeks, I'll provide more detailed analysis then
Depends on where you are and your current ease of access. For someone like me who's lazy and smokes once in a while, yeah I'd probably just go to the local dispensary and get some bud there. But if you're going through an eighth every day, then a 35% price differential will be substantial over a month period, and it may be worth seeking out a source who's supplying this stuff without the taxes.
It would be pointless if it was made fully legal then they allowed it to be undercut. I don't doubt that governments are so incapable that this might happen though.
Legalization would come with the creation of a separate arm of the tax authority to monitor legal sales and product quality, and go after tax dodgers. You'd have some who would slip through the cracks of course.
I understand the sentiment but that’s too simplistic a view of not only market economics, but also the vibrant illicit sub-culture that already exists around marijuana. I’ve been deeply involved in the industry for 3 years now and I can tell you it is not as simple as just making it legal and the illicit market goes away. I’ve written a thousand page thesis on cannabis business economics both on a micro and macro scale and can tell you it’s a very socio-economically complex subject.
You can't say that without placing the link here so it can be appropriately, um, peer-reviewed
I'm no expert but Mexico's cartel experience appears somewhat similar to Colombia's, although much more violent. All of the elements you've listed above combine to create the impacts.
I stopped smoking regularly a while back for various reasons, but there were periods when I smoked an obscene amount (usually to help stay away from other stuff). There would be no way that I’d have been able to afford that added extra amount. Some of the pros mentioned would be fairly irrelevant also (in my personal case anyway) such as knowing the quality, strains etc as that was usually provided, I could even make requests about strains or ask for specific consumables and shit.
I’d also find this really interesting to read if it’s something you’d be allowed to share and felt comfortable doing so.
Yeah, the issue for Mexico is that this way out of hand.
Make Drugs Molly Again (MDMA)
Excuse the pun!
Except it's not only Mexico.
Sure, but that's a different dynamic. I think the underlying issue in many cases is still that many users are in poor social conditions that a better welfare system would improve - especially in the US, which has a relatively poor welfare system. (Compare to the country's wealth.) It is likely the same for many low-level drug dealers. It is in any case well-known that the War on Drugs is a supremely ineffective, and indeed often counterproductive, tool to combat drug use and drug criminality, or to get neighbourhoods out of their negative situations and downward spirals. But the US doesn't have violent crime cartels quite like Mexico has, so the situation and its possible solutions are ultimately quite different.
Drug abuse and drug dealing plays a big part if american problems. All those incarceration most likely either direct on indirectly drug related. To the very least the poverty and vicious cycle created by drug problems helped shaped the current cycle.
