That Washington Post reports:
The most sought after marijuana being trafficked across the U.S.-Mexico border is now the weed entering Mexico, not the weed leaving it.
Cannabis sold legally in California is heading south illegally, dominating a booming boutique market across Mexico, where buying and selling the drug is still outlawed. Mexican dealers flaunt their U.S. products, noting them in bold lettering on menus sent to select clients: “IMPORTADO.”
Traffickers from California load their suitcases with U.S.-grown marijuana before hopping on planes to Mexico, or walking across the pedestrian border crossing into Tijuana. One car was recently stopped entering Tijuana with 5,600 jars of gummies infused with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. But relatively few of the southbound traffickers are caught — even as their contraband doubles or triples in value as soon as it enters Mexico.
Oddly, it seems to have status symbol appeal:
“Nobody is going to grow cannabis better than California probably ever,” Bubeck said.
Back in Mexico, he said, especially for younger smokers, the appeal is clear: “You’re showing ‘This is what I’m about. I’m a bad ass. I got this from America.’”
I still have a suspicion that the US is eventually going to regret, or pull back from, its current style of entrepreneurial legalisation.
3 comments:
I've lost the reference to a US study which claimed legalisation has led to an increase in schizophrenia diagnosis. Contrariwise studies from many countries, including Australia, demonstrate the incidence of schizophrenia has been declining in the same decades marijuana consumption has been increasing.
What I don't understand, John, is why legalisation is not accompanied by legislative requirements regarding both its THC strength, and the balance with that protective compound, the name of which I forget right now.
But as far as I can tell, legalisation there just means they breed whatever strength they like.
The THC content is an important issue. It has long been known that THC promotes psychosis while CBD inhibits psychosis. The increasing THC content of modern strains is shifting the THC\CBD ratio into ever increasing dangerous territory. The free market ideology too often leads to these types of absurdities.
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