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 ...
When the government took over the numbers racket (Lotto) I knew it would eventually come to this.
Government coffers are being filled by the numbers racket, alcohol taxes, pot taxes, tobacco taxes. Soon they will be getting their cut of heroin, prostitution...and whatever else they can weasel into.
!
"We're bigger than US Steel."
There’s too much legal money to be made for the Cartels to effectively move in. The phrase “the government hates competition” is operative here.
Sure the industry is going to be tested, but there’s already a cottage industry of paramilitary security companies providing Security and Cash Collections. Not to mention the lucrative pay off duty cops are making moonlighting as pot shop security.
You can bet those big shops will be pulling in 10’s of thousands a day and will pay through the nose to keep it clean.
Wholesale Mexican weed is still $400/pound. Not as good as the weed sold in the stores, but @ $400/oz there is a lot of room for profit.
***Consider the source of the “warning”. The DEA and other assorted TLAs clearly think that legalization is going to be cutting into their budgets and relevance***
-Bingo! It’s all about the pensions
Profit, yes, but there is little to no demand in Colorado. Why buy illegal weed at the same price and face possible jailtime when you can legally buy 28 grams (1oz) legally and get quality products?
Nice to see a little common sense on the thread. Seems there's a lot of wishful thinking here.
You can bet those big shops will be pulling in 10’s of thousands a day and will pay through the nose to keep it clean.
Another dose of reality hits the thread.
Adult Coloradans can grow up to 6 plants of the best stuff in the world with virtually zero chance of being arrested. If people in CO buy it on the black market, it will be from a local Mom & Pop grow your own enterprise, not the cartels.
Colorado legalized growing up to six plants per adult.
I have to say that (as a resident of the state) that this hasn't been the big deal that it seems to be outside of Colorado. "Medical" marijuana was already legal, and it was apparently not a big deal to get a card from a doctor. I do not smoke it, but I assume that if someone wanted it before, they probably got it without an issue. These new laws just mean that a person doesn't have to go to the doctor first.
I had mixed feelings about the law passing, and still do. I guess we'll see how it turns out.
The other thing being overlooked is that these people seem to assume that pot smokers go through tons of it a year and so they need an illegal source. The fact is that pot smokers can go buy another ounce anytime they run out of the last ounce, legally, high quality (Seriously, the new pot has nothing in common with the illegal pot.), and without hassle.
And children won’t get access to it. /s
Funny thing about a free market. The taxes alone may discourage legal purchases when a person can buy it on the street without the taxes.
You don't say.
$400 an ounce!!!? I’d grow it myself before paying that price.
Because it isn't the same price. Outside of the Feds, no LE gives a crap about marijuana in this state. As long as it remains pricey from the 'dispensaries' it will sell.
When major corporations get into this you will have slickly packaged and marketed products. If and when Congress legalizes pot they will create a licensing and taxation structure resembling the U.S. tobacco or alcoholic beverage industry. They want those taxes. The tobacco companies already have the industrial infrastructure for producing the cigarette form of pot. Such a scenario could provide a tax windfall and at the same time bring the price down to levels far below the illegal market. The current free form industry would be outlawed. After that most consumers will prefer the legal products just as most liquor consumers choose packaged whiskey over a jug made in the backwoods.
The cartels won't kill legal pot. The threats to legal pot are, any large increase in underage usage, driving while stoned, and any violent robberies.
The DUIs are already popping up in Washington State, but that may be due to more awareness by police than more people under the influence.
“Because it isn’t the same price. “
Illegal pot sells for the same as legal weed because legal weed dropped in price below the illegal garbage. The illegal pot has been chasing the price down.
400/# vs 400/oz, mexican ain’t going anywhere.
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