Chapter Title: Preface

Book Title: Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico

Book Subtitle: Would Legalizing Marijuana in California Help?
Book Author(s): Beau Kilmer, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Brittany M. Bond and Peter H.
Reuter
Published by: RAND Corporation

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/op325rc.2

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Preface

U.S. demand for illicit drugs creates markets for Mexican drug trafficking organizations
(DTOs). This paper examines how marijuana legalization in California might influence DTO
revenues and the violence in Mexico, focusing on gross revenues from export and distribution
to wholesale markets near the southwestern U.S. border. The analysis described here is rooted
in an earlier RAND Corporation study on marijuana legalization (Kilmer, Caulkins, Pacula,
et al., 2010) and presents a method of estimating the revenues that international drug traffick-
ers derive from U.S. sales that is transparent and, hence, auditable and replicable. We believe
that this method can be iteratively improved by research over time, whereas existing methods
that rely heavily on classified information have not been subject to review and have not shown
much ongoing improvement.
Five technical appendixes include additional information about the weight of a marijuana
joint, THC content of sinsemilla and commercial-grade marijuana, marijuana prices, Mexican
DTO revenues from drugs other than marijuana, and the availability of Mexican marijuana
in the U.S. They are available online at http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP325/.
This research was conducted under the auspices of RAND International Programs with
funding from RAND’s Investment in People and Ideas program, which combines philan-
thropic contributions from individuals, foundations, and private-sector firms with earnings
from RAND’s endowment and operations to support research on issues that reach beyond
the scope of traditional client sponsorship. RAND International Programs facilitates research
on regionally and internationally focused topics for a wide range of U.S. as well as interna-
tional clients, including governments, foundations, and corporations. For more information
on RAND International Programs, see http://www.rand.org/international_programs/about/
or contact the director (contact information is provided on the web page).

iii

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