Law & Politics

U.S. Grown Weed Being Smuggled Into Mexico, Source: http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/04/img/mexicoreport_onpage.jpgThe Mexican drug cartels are at it again, they are flooding the streets of the United States with illegal weed and – oh wait, no, it’s quite the reverse actually. Mexico used to supply the United States with most of its weed, but now that trend is shifting. It turns out that the latest development in drug trafficking between the U.S., Mexico border is that cannabis grown in the United States is increasingly being smuggled into Mexico.

The increasing number of states legalizing cannabis use is responsible for this trend. The quantity and quality of cannabis grown in the U.S. has increased since legalization, and the cartel now has their eyes on the U.S. product. In a National Public Radio article, the Drug Enforcement Administration explained that home-grown U.S. pot is being transported to Mexico and sold for premium price.

“It makes sense,” said DEA spokesman Lawrence Payne. “We know the cartels are already smuggling cash into Mexico. If you can buy some really high-quality weed here, why not smuggle it south, too, and sell it at a premium?”

Weed grown in Mexico is less potent than the weed grown in the U.S. by cannabis experts, and is valued at a lower price. Payne explains, “Mexican marijuana is considered to be of poor quality generally because it’s grown in bulk, outdoors; it’s typically dried but not really cured, which is something we do here in the U.S. with connoisseur-quality cannabis. And it’s also bricked up, meaning that it’s compressed, for sale and packaging and in order to get it over the border efficiently.”

The increase in U.S. supply of cannabis is undercutting prices in Mexico. “Two or three years ago, a kilogram [2.2 pounds] of marijuana was worth $60 to $90,” said an anonymous cannabis grower from the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa. “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.” With weed becoming more available in the legal market in the U.S., the demand for weed from Mexico is quickly decreasing.

Funny, this sounds exactly like what cannabis advocates have been saying for years. Even before I had ever partaken of the blessed herb I advocated for legalization under the argument that it would decrease illegal drug trafficking from Mexico.

Because of the decreased value of weed from Mexico, some speculate that the cartels will simply push other drugs even more. “I believe that now, because of the changes they’re having to make because of marijuana legalization in the U.S., the cartel is pushing more cocaine, meth and heroin. They’re diversifying,” said Javier Valdez, a journalist and drug culture expert in Sinaloa, Mexico. But before such speculations can be made, the DEA will need to put forward more concrete evidence of the degree of changes in drug trafficking from Mexico. Thus far, they have yet to release any information that might lead to a substantive conclusion.