Posted on 01/11/2014 12:49:10 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee
As the smoke settles from the first week of legal marijuana sales in Colorado, experts are warning that sanctioned pot dealers could become targets for the very folks they put out of business.
Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery. One veteran border narcotics agent told FoxNews.com Colorado's legal pot industry will find it hard to keep the criminals from horning in on a lucrative business they once controlled.
"Mexico is already in Colorado without the risks," the agent, who requested anonymity, said of the state's heavy pre-existing cartel presence. "Legal businesses will likely see a rise in extortion attempts while law enforcement will see a lot of backdoor deals being made."
Cartels, especially the Juarez and Sinaloa, who have a strong presence in Colorado, could not have been happy with the estimated $1 million in sales Jan. 1, the first day of legalized retail sales. In 2012 the Mexican Competitiveness Institute issued a report saying that Mexico’s cartels would lose as much as $1.425 billion if Colorado legalized marijuana. The organization also predicted that drug trafficking revenues would fall 20 to 30 percent, and the Sinaloa cartel, which would be the most affected, would lose up to 50 percent. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Consider the source of the “warning”. The DEA and other assorted TLAs clearly think that legalization is going to be cutting into their budgets and relevance.
Cartels in Colorado? Sounds like a law enforcement/ national security issue to me. Wait, what’s that, Hillary, Holder and O-bunghole supplied the cartels with weapons? Never mind.
The drug war continues...... only bloodier.
Currently 25%, plus 2% sales tax. Subject to a change upward at the whim of the legislature.
They’re already testing their new, patented “strain”...
http://www.medicalmarijuanastrains.com/girl-scout-cookies-2/
Easy and legal, yes but I just heard on t.v., that it has gone from $300 per pound to $400 per pound this month alone.
Supply and demand? Do you think more people are going to use now that they aren’t breaking the law?
What does it matter now? They are already here and the US government is worried about Conservatives and Tea Party “Nazis”!
The Mexican cartels disappeared from Colorado. They can’t compete with the legal and high quality of pot here. Any story to the contrary is hype and stupidity.
“At least we’ll all be safer now that people can only carry 15-round bullet clips “
That’s not factually correct. We can carry anything we please.
My 17 rounds ( 16 in the mag+ one in the chamber) are perfectly legal in Colorado as they were purchased prior to the law. I also have several 30 round magazines all perfectly legal for the AR I have not yet purchased. The law is arbitrary ans capricious and hopefully will not stand if challenged
Putting the cartels out of business would be a good thing.
That’s not happening (yet), but if enough states legalize, it will start to affect the cartels a lot.
Kind of like producing our own energy hurts that other cartel.
I was being sarcastic.
I thought that it was obvious when I typed, “Bullet clips.”
;-)
I’m not an AR guy (I’m mainly into pistols), but I’m going to get one soon with some Wyoming-purchased 30-rounders VERY soon.
Quite legal -and this law isn’t being enforced.
(Yeah. I’m a one-issue-voter)
6 mature plants per adult in household I think. More than enough.
Walk-in closet and basement grows are springing up everywhere in Colorado.
It is against the law to grow outside.
I know a guy who has a legal grow. $8k initial investment (perfectionist, overdoes everything), clears about 1k a month plus he supplies himself. He’s in his 60’s and his retired neighbors are his biggest customers, lol.
Who cares if the Mexican cartels are upset that Americans take over their business? Are we supposed to be afraid to do something because it’ll upset the Mexican criminals? What’s to stop them from also extorting restaurants, liquor stores, candy stores, etc? Let them work on importing watermelons or something else, I don’t care.
I should have added above that his grow is legal, his sales are not.
People don’t care about or obey laws they don’t like, be it traffic, guns or drugs.
Anyone who thinks billion dollar cartels are just going to whither away is a damn fool.
Liberals keep expanding the list of illegal substances, so there is always a market!
Yeah, my county sherrif is one of the 54(?) in Colorado not enforcing the magazine ban.
Another related fact, 54% (IIRC) of Colorado voters approved the constitutional amendment. The legislature didn’t do this.
I postulate that relatively few non-pot smokers voted yes. Which means a HELL of a lot of voters were smoking pot before it became legal. The vote came after about 10 years of medical pot being legal, which was supposed to cause huge problems.
Apparently those huge problems weren’t evident to most voters.
Oh, and screw the cartels.
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