Legal Marijuana In The U.S. Shrinks Down Mexican Drug Cartel’s Revenue

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Legal Marijuana in the U.S. has brought a tremendous impact in the Mexican drug cartel's revenue. Since the pot's legalization in many states in America, it has started to take away a huge part of the cannabis market in Mexico. Latest report of the U.S. Border Patrol revealed that legal Marijuana has caused a serious dent in the Mexican pot exports.

As reported by ABQ Journal, last year, the U.S. Border Patrol seized its lowest amount of cannabis in the Southwest border in at least 10 years. In the past years, they confiscated about 4 million pounds of weeds with its peak in 2009. However, the patrol only sequestered roughly 1.5 million pounds of marijuana in 2015. The data appeared to be an indication of how the Marijuana growers in the North have affected the operation of the Mexican Marijuana growers. California, Colorado and Washington are offering lower prices of weeds at the bulk level.

"Two or three years ago, a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of marijuana was worth $60 to $90," a Mexican marijuana grower told NPR news in December 2014. "But now they're paying us $30 to $40 a kilo. It's a big difference. If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they'll run us into the ground."

The report also indicates that the Mexican drug cartel's revenue was not only affected by the competition in price, but also in quality, according to The Washington Post. When legal Marijuana was approved in some states, the Mexican growers' profit went down. Based on the reports of the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment, the quality of weeds produced in Mexico and the Caribbean is low-grade to the Marijuana raised domestically in the U.S. or Canada.

"Law enforcement reporting indicates that Mexican cartels are attempting to produce higher-quality marijuana to keep up with U.S. demand," Union Bulletin reports.

The National Drug Control Policy Office suggested that the low number of confiscated weeds in the border indicates that people in the U.S. favor weeds from domestic sources. Experts also claimed that the recreational weed market in the U.S. has smaller influence in the Mexican drug cartel's revenue than the legal marijuana in several states.

Tags
legalization of marijuana in the U.S., medical marijuana, Legal Marijuana, Recreational Marijuana Use, Mexican Drug Cartel, Mexican drug cartel revenue, U.S. Border Patrol
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