Mexico will likely legalize marijuana.

 

Stock photo of marijuana. The Hill/Getty.

Mexico is poised to legalize recreational use of marijuana as a bill has passed in their lower legislative chamber. The Hill. In 2018 the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that the ban on marijuana was unconstitutional. The bill passed and will likely pass in Mexico's upper chamber as well. Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has also voiced his support for legalization. Supporters argue that the legalization will help control the violence from the Mexican Drug War and would be a new major tax base for the country. Opponents say that legalization is not going to help with violence as the cartels have switched to smuggling other drugs over marijuana. Mexico will join with Canada and Uruguay in legalizing marijuana. 

My Comment:

It seems as though marijuana legalization is inevitable at this point. America is the only country now in the North America where marijuana is illegal and even then many states have legalized medical and recreational use. Mexico is just the latest domino to fall and I think it's extremely likely that pot will be legalized in my lifetime. 

Is this a good move for Mexico? Possibly. I do think that legalizing pot will be a major tax boon for the state. A lot of people in Mexico smoke pot and that's potentially millions of dollars a year for Mexico as long as pot remains legal. Plus there will be a large number of legal jobs for Mexican citizens in the marijuana industry. 

Will it help with the cartel violence? Of course not. Legalizing pot won't stop the cartels as they will still smuggle pot into the United States. And even if it was legal, the cartels can probably undercut the government and businesses by providing cheaper pot than they can. If nothing else they would make profit on people who want to buy pot tax free. 

And it's not like pot is the only profit stream for the cartels. There are obviously other drugs, like cocaine, opiates and methamphetamine that they can smuggle into the United States. Indeed, I bet that those drugs are already the main source of income when it comes to drug smuggling for the cartels. And the cartels have many other sources of revenue like stealing oil/gas, corruption and even kidnapping. 

Indeed, I suspect that the cartels will be deeply involved in the legal cannabis industry pretty much soon as it is formed. I worry that they will threaten any business that tries to start a cannabis outfit if not take it over entirely. The cartels currently have a monopoly on pot production in Mexico and I doubt they will want to give that up.

As for America it seems very likely that legalization is coming. A lot of people are in favor of it and the people that opposed do not seem as passionate as they once were. Back when President Trump was in power I argued that he should have made legalizing pot a campaign issue and if he did I don't see how he could have lost even despite voter fraud. The Democrats may want to slow walk it so they can keep it as a campaign issue (which I am also shocked they didn't use in 2020) but I think it is coming. There is widespread support for it and there is a ton of money to be made. 

For me personally, I don't have any horse in the race. I have never smoked pot and even if it became legal I would have little interest in it. Being around smoke is not something I enjoy and it doesn't matter if it is tobacco or marijuana. Plus, I don't like how so many people who smoke it make it there whole life. The issue is moot for me.