Exactly. That is why the liquor industry is dominated by Mexican cartels! .... Oh, no ... wait ... that isn't happening, is it?
If marijuana is legalized, there is no way that Mexican cartels could compete with large American agricultural businesses. What do you imagine would be the cost of growing a pound of marijuana on an industrial scale? How many hoodlums can the profit on such a product support?
It is only the illegality of marijuana that makes it expensive. It is only the expense which supplies profit incentive for corrupt actors.
Those who claim that marijuana may be harmful may well be correct. I am totally unconvinced by arguments that suggest that the legal trade will be dominated by gangsters.
When liquor was illegal - it was the Mafia and gangsters that kept the booze flowing. Same thing with pot. It's the billion dollar cartels that are supplying the demand. You think there are "large American agricultural businesses" that will set up and replace the cartels? How foolish you are. Name one.
Even if one tried - they would quickly be undercut by the illegal drug cartels that are alredy in place who would offer a superior product at less cost. Tax free even.
Fact is - the cartels are like the Mafia during Prohibition. They already have the product, the customers, the supply routes and more. They are just waiting for a complete legalization so they can create US based businesses and import their product legally.
After Prohibition ended, the crooks and hoodlums became legal productive businessme once again. The same thing will happen with the (currently illegal) billion dollar drug cartels operating here in the US.
Nonsense.
Pot is grown LOCALLY. All legal pot is tracked from sprout to retail sale in every state where it is legal.
Any retailer that cannot show the origin of every bud will lose their license and go to jail.
EVERY transaction is recorded and required to be kept for several years.
The crooks and hoodlums went back to whatever crimes they could make $ with. Criminals don’t stop being criminals. The cartels will just increase kidnappings and other crimes. But the free easy money would dry up.
That’s why I support drug decriminalization. There would be no profit in peddling drugs. Legalization turns the govt into a pusher.
Yup, Papa Joe Kennedy could now legally bring in all the Scotch Whisky he brought in during Prohibition.
He was rewarded by FDR as the Ambassador to the Court of St James.
So, you're saying that Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Jack Daniels, et al, are run by the gangsters that bootlegged illegal hooch during Prohibition.
I can't speak for everyone, but I would certainly like to see the cites that support your assertion.