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“MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderón, locked in a battle with drug cartels, wants to legalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, a plan that will likely irk Washington.”

I don't see how that would do anything to reduce the violence between rival cartels in Mexico. Maybe if they actually legalized production of marijuana and only let licensed producers produce it it would take some of the money from the cartels, but the problem is that the vast majority of what they produce is smuggled into the United States. If we legalized marijuana and allowed for regulated production and sales here, that would take billions away from these drug cartels in Mexico and then they would really be killing each other fighting over what's left of the illegal drug trade. In the end I think it would shrink these organizations and make them much less powerful. It would also make it harder for them to sell their cocaine and meth and heroin because right now a really big part of these other drugs go through existing marijuana channels.

Americans consume more marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined. Vast existing marijuana smuggling and distribution networks are convenient conduits through which to move other drugs. Take away these distribution networks and the illegal drug trade becomes more fragmented and it becomes much more difficult for them to find people to sell their drugs. As it is if one of their mid-level cocaine suppliers gets popped, all they have to do is approach people they are supplying marijuana and recruit them to move cocaine too. The mid level suppliers in turn offer these drugs to the people buying smaller amounts of marijuana and then the cartels are able to reach an even broader customer base.

If they didn't have all these marijuana sellers at various levels of the distribution networks to recruit to sell their far more dangerous drugs, it would make it much more difficult for them to get these drugs to end consumers. For one thing, they'll have difficulty finding people who are safe to recruit. Those already buying marijuana from them to sell are a safe bet because they are already illegal drug dealers breaking the law and they will not go to the police and report people who try to recruit them to sell other drugs. Also, these marijuana sellers already have the proven ability to run a actually run a drug distribution enterprise. Without them they'll be forced to recruit people they've had no dealings with who have no track records of success in moving drugs and they'll probably end up with a bunch of addicts in mid level positions who screw everything up.

I am convinced that the marijuana industry is the backbone of the illegal drug trade. If we took the marijuana business away from the drug cartels we would hurt them severely, removing billions from their bottom line and making it more difficult for them to move their far more harmful drugs. If we did that we wouldn't need to legalize any other drugs, and we shouldn't ever legalize drugs like cocaine and meth and heroin because they are just far too addictive and prone to causing problems for society.