Quote (Surfpunk @ Jun 2 2021 02:16pm)
Because marijuana is a piecemeal combination of legal and illegal, so there's still a trafficking incentive, even with the legal farms. Legalize all this shit at a federal level (not just marijuana - all of it), and the incentive for cartels to kill judges, cops, mayors, etc all but disappears. They're obviously going to find a way to continue making money, but if thousands aren't being slaughtered in the process, then that's a win. Plus, we're not spending billions on the interdiction, enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration of drug offenders. There's a lot of intersecting societal issues that get positively impacted by not throwing hundreds of thousands of people in jail for drug offenses. Gang violence, breakup of nuclear families in the inner city, etc. Put a fraction of the money we spend on enforcement into drug rehabilitation and treatment programs, and it gets even better.
I'm really not convinced of that. If we take a look at Los Zetas, they've become increasingly diverse in terms of revenue streams. They get money from piracy, kidnapping, human trafficking, etc. In 2017, it's estimated they control 40% of the world's stolen oil! Obviously the Zetas are a special case because they are particularly brutal and comprised of former special forces. However, the blueprint is there on how to adapt your revenue stream and stay in power.
Suppose Pfizer got involved in the production of cocaine. What's to stop the cartels from killing the board's children in America? How is a legal business entity different than a rival cartel from a cartel's point of view? I think your argument would hold water if countries like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, etc. were more stable. I agree that we can target leadership but that tends to create smaller cells (similar to terrorist cells). That typically causes more chaos in those areas which something we'd like to avoid.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf