The resulting violent war between the drug cartels and “legitimate” private business should be quite entertaining. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from more and more hippies who barely escape from a “friendly competitor” who doesn’t believe the territory is big enough for the both of them.
That’s a novel take on all of this. It’s possible that drug gangs will attack whatever kind of store replaces dispensaries, or dispensaries.
The drug gangs have always acted illegally. Nothing in Prop 19 is going to make what they’ve always done - street corner drug sales, mexican brick, a distribution network - legal.
Hippies who grow their own and smoke their own I don’t think will be attacked by drug gangs. They aren’t selling. Hippies who will be legally able to grow pot might be tempted to sell their surplus on street corners in direct competition with drug gangs who may continue to do exactly what they’ve always done. I think you’re right, if a hippie tries to sell a bag of pot on a street corner that drug gangs have always sold on, that hippie might be putting himself in danger.
Or, when you’re talking about a hippie selling, are you talking about a hippie who owns a legitimate shop, who complies with all the local laws and regulations required to sell legally? I doubt that gangs would mess with his business. He is taking the legal route, they are taking the illegal route - they really aren’t direct competitors.
The drug gangs really don’t want Prop 19 to pass. Neither do dispensary owners or growers who provide pot to dispensaries. Basically, most of the people who are making money now from marijuana sales, whether legally or illegally, want the laws to stay the same.
Drug gangs will not make a lot of money on marijuana if Prop 19 passes. But, drug gangs have a wide assortment of drugs that they like to sell, and they’ll likely just focus on drugs that aren’t marijuana.