$38 billion? That's a big number. In fact, how many single industries generate that kind of money a year (I'm assuming it's annual)?
I'm NOT advocating this, but would be curious if it were legal, what would the number be accounting for retail mark-up and the like? And, I wonder what the tax revenues would be.
The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates that Mexican and Colombian cartels launder between $18 billion and $39 billion in wholesale drug proceeds annually.