Riley Morris

Health 1050
4/20/2020

International Connections Paper

#2
In recent years many cartels have slowly been losing power. Currently one of the largest
struggles for the cartels is the decrease of marijuana they are able to move, with the
legalization of marijuana in most states people have begun to buy it legally. People prefer to
buy the legal kind because it has more regulations on it and people know that the product has
been tested and it is safe. Before they had to buy it from a dealer with no ability to trace were it
came from or be able to hold anyone responsible if something went wrong. Research found
that the marijuana being imported has drastically dropped “U.S. Border Patrol has been seizing
steadily smaller quantities of the drug, from 2.5 million pounds in 2011 to 1.9 million pounds in
2014. Mexico’s army has noted an even steeper decline, confiscating 664 tons of cannabis in
2014, a drop of 32% compared to year before.” (Grillo 2015).
With the ability to know where the weed is coming from makes people feel safer using
it. All the products being sold in the stores are being tested and are labeled with the THC levels.
Having people be able to purchase the marijuana legally they no longer have to meet with a
dealer or get into scary situations. Now that the government is able to regulate it all they get to
take all of the money for themselves which prevents it from falling into the cartel’s hands.
With having all of the marijuana tested it needs to be up to FDA standards before it can
be sold. This will prevent any spiked product from getting out and effecting unsuspecting
people. This is something that the cartel would be unable to do because they wouldn’t have the
resources or credibility to test the products.
Having the amount of marijuana being imported illegally decrease boarder patrol is now
able to focus its resources else where. They have found that since the legalization of marijuana
meth confiscations have increased. The power is slowly being taken away from the cartels with
a lot of the product getting confiscated “This means less cash for Mexican cartels to buy guns,
bribe police and pay assassins. Coinciding with legalization, violence has decreased in Mexico.
Homicides hit a high in 2011, with Mexican police departments reporting almost 23,000
murders. Last year, they reported 15,649.” (Grillo 2015).
In conclusion because of the recent legalization of marijuana in the United States
Mexican cartels no longer have a huge market. People prefer to buy marijuana that has been
tested and that is proven to be safe. Boarder patrol and police are now able to focus on harder
drugs and other crime instead. Cartels will now have less cash to buy guys and bribe police. The
legalization of weed is the first step to stopping the cartels.
Riley Morris
Health 1050
4/20/2020

Work Cited
Grillo, Ioan. “U.S. Legalization of Marijuana Has Hit Mexican Cartels' Border
Trade.” Time, Time, 8 Apr. 2015, time.com/3801889/us-legalization-marijuana-trade/.
Grillo, Ioan. “Mexican Cartels: A Century of Defying U.S. Drug Policy.” Brown Journal of
World Affairs, vol. 20, no. 1, 2013, pp. 253–266. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edshol&AN=edshol.hein.journals.brownjwa20.21&site=eds-live.