And people wonder why building a wall would be pointless

[loCAtek]

Very well, you didn't mean marijuana when responding to pot references. From here on, I have to assume you don't consider marijuana to be pot. Can you specify what are marijuana colloquialisms in order to avoid confusion, for future reference?

[Scooter]

I didn't mean medical marijuana when responding to a reference that was not about medical marijuana. Thanks for finally acknowledging that.

[loCAtek]

So, 'pot licensing' was not supposed to 'break the back' of the cartels?

...as opposed to your initial assertion?


Okay, I can deal with that, since in reality; the cartels haven't cared about what the Californians legislated. ...which was my point.

[Scooter]

No, I very clearly stated that pot licences would break the back of the cartels. Which has nothing to do with medical marijuana. Thanks for finally acknowledging that; I accept your apology.

[Grim Reaper]

So, 'pot licensing' was not supposed to 'break the back' of the cartels?

Pot licensing, which hasn't happened yet, which is why it is suggested as a possible solution.

If it were implemented, would allow for the large scale, legal, growing of marijuana in this country. This would cause a significant drop in demand from foreign sources. Which would lead to drug cartels receiving vastly less amounts of money.

What we currently have is a medicinal exclusion for limited growing, not nearly enough to cause any noticeable drop in demand.

This is the exact same situation that this country faced during the Prohibition. Alcohol could be used in limited quantities for medicinal purposes. The illegal consumption though was many times larger than could possibly be handled through medicinal sources. That's why we had such a large underground market spring up to continue providing alcohol.

The exact same situation exists now, medicinal marijuana can be acquired legally, but only in very tiny amounts for legitimate medical needs. The amount used for recreational purposes dwarfs the amount available from medicinal sources, which leads to massive illegal operations to continue providing the drug. Cut out the illegality and the source of the drug will shift from foreign sources to nationally grown sources almost overnight.

[Andrew D]

And it is no accident that three of the most powerful forces opposing the legalization of marijuana are (1) the alcohol industry, which does not want the competition; (2) organized crime, which depends on illegality for its profits; and (3) so-called law enforcement, which does not want to let go of a forfeiture bonanza.

[Gob]

If it were implemented, would allow for the large scale, legal, growing of marijuana in this country. This would cause a significant drop in demand from foreign sources. Which would lead to drug cartels receiving vastly less amounts of money moving into the production and distribution of other drugs.

Fixed that for you Grimby.

[Scooter]

The market for hard drugs is only so large; it is going to be difficult if not impossible to recoup the billions currently made on the sale of marijuana by increasing production of other drugs. If it could, they would already be ramping it up in addition to producing/distributing marijuana.

[Gob]

I'm not talking about "hard" drugs Scoot. Cocaine is nw perceived as an "everyman" drug, and it's use is soaring. Likewise ecstasy and they new 'designer" amphetamines could be promoted. Sure as hell the drug cartels aren't going to shrug their shoulders and call it a day if their cannabis markets go legal.

[Scooter]

And what I'm saying is that the fact that they are producing cannabis now is not precluding them from getting into the production/sale of those other drugs. Do you imagine that a major drug cartel is saying, "hmmm, we could be making billions more than we already are by selling cocaine as well as marijuana, but so long as marijuana remains illegal we'll be satisfied with that"? If they have the capacity/connections/smarts to do it, they would already be into those other drugs, not sticking their thumbs in their asses waiting for marijuana to be legalized before making a move. So since those who want to be into other drugs are already there, legalizing marijuana would be a huge hit on their profits. Are drug lords going to go gently into that good night? Of course not. But they will be fighting each other for a piece of a drug market that will have shrunk considerably once marijuana is out of the picture.

[Gob]

Fair points Scoot, I think we're agreeing with each other.