"Do I even need to say it?"
Posted on 01/11/2014 12:49:10 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee
As the smoke settles from the first week of legal marijuana sales in Colorado, experts are warning that sanctioned pot dealers could become targets for the very folks they put out of business.
Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery. One veteran border narcotics agent told FoxNews.com Colorado's legal pot industry will find it hard to keep the criminals from horning in on a lucrative business they once controlled.
"Mexico is already in Colorado without the risks," the agent, who requested anonymity, said of the state's heavy pre-existing cartel presence. "Legal businesses will likely see a rise in extortion attempts while law enforcement will see a lot of backdoor deals being made."
Cartels, especially the Juarez and Sinaloa, who have a strong presence in Colorado, could not have been happy with the estimated $1 million in sales Jan. 1, the first day of legalized retail sales. In 2012 the Mexican Competitiveness Institute issued a report saying that Mexico’s cartels would lose as much as $1.425 billion if Colorado legalized marijuana. The organization also predicted that drug trafficking revenues would fall 20 to 30 percent, and the Sinaloa cartel, which would be the most affected, would lose up to 50 percent. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Gosh. Ya think? Who saw that one coming?
Be interesting to see what happens now.
It’s starting to look as though this “recreational” marijuana bull**** is about to get ugly. Good luck Colorado! Don’t forget! “Legalize it and then tax the hell our of it!” LOL!
"Do I even need to say it?"
It looks like once again the the Law of Unintended Consequences is ready to rear it’s ugly head.
I’d say. I also think if they just left the drugs alone, you’d kill the drug trade. It’s up to us parents to teach our kids right.
Legalization will put them out of business. /s
A good number of parents are toking it up with their kids.
Holder likes none of this.
I’d say if there are “cartel hits” on such stores it’s likely in fact it was HOLDER’S GUYS.
Like Fast & Furious, yup.
OH SURE THE HITS WILL BE FROM “CARTELS”.
GayMuzzie is mobbed up on the sly with the Sinaloa.
If someone bursts in and robs these places and kills people inside, I’d say it’s the DOJ, even if they’re not in uniform.
I will never understand that.
I guess it will separate the users from the non users, when something is easy and legal and cheap to get, it’ll be abused.
Boy, I sure am glad that the Colorado democrats voted to pass those gun control bills last year.
At least we’ll all be safer now that people can only carry 15-round bullet clips (That are unusable after a single use), have to run CBI firearm background checks to sell to your neighbor in his garage, and PAY for the check.
/Sarcasm
Anyone know how I could go about finding all firearm-related crimes that have occurred since these STOOPID gun control laws were enacted July 1, 2013? Is there a law enforcement site to look these stats up?
Colorado PING to George76
Legalize home grown weed and all these clowns go out of business.
I doubt the consumers of overpriced legal marijuana will put a dent in the Mexican’s wholesale trafficking business model.
Pot shops and their zonked out customers have more to be worried about from takeover robberies by assorted local criminal lowlifes than any international cartel.
Yeah, like the way the Mafia went out of business after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, right?
If you're going to legalize it, then yes, that would be the way to go.
The joint is the Girl Scout Cookie of the future. I can see it now, little girls showing up at the door selling refer. They can also have a line of accessories, bongs, lighters, pipes and rolling papers.
What a harmonic convergence it would have been if the state had succeeded in taking people’s guns away.
And don't forget control its strength and blend it with additives.
Part of the allure of illegal drugs is that they're illegal. It won't be surprising if drug cartels turn legal marijuana users on to something more potent and not legal.
Wouldn’t surprise me if a significant percentage of the rope they smoke in Colorado was domestically grown anyways.
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