Avocados are legal yet it doesn’t spare them from cartel control and violence.
Organized crime has a hold in Mexico for many reasons, a critical one being that wages and purchasing power are so low there which foster corruption and reduce state power.
The discussion of whether the legalization of some drugs are good for our society should be had independently of whatever the cartels are doing.
But the major motivator for crime in mexico, is the easy money with drugs (especially because the alternatives are poor).
So yes, even with all drugs legal, there will still be organized crime for prostitution and weapon smuggling, etc. but the crime organisations won't have bigger budgets then the police and army anymore
From Wikipedia:
"The Organization of American States estimated that the revenue for cocaine sales in the U.S. was $34 billion in 2013. "
The principal revenue source of all the major cartels is the drug trade, by far. They are diversifying but their real power to suborn the apparatus of the state and its officials in Mexico is backed by the revenues from narcotics. These organizations simply wouldn't be this pervasive or powerful if they lost that. Avacados don't buy all those officials and even if they did, it would be on a much more local, less dangerous scale.
So in brief, your argument about the drug trade and the continuing illegality of drugs not being directly relevant to the cartels and their activity is wrong.
I've been living down here for nearly two decades by the way and watching these things, so just a bit of contextual knowledge of how the situation works.
Comments
Avocados are legal yet it doesn’t spare them from cartel control and violence.
Organized crime has a hold in Mexico for many reasons, a critical one being that wages and purchasing power are so low there which foster corruption and reduce state power.
The discussion of whether the legalization of some drugs are good for our society should be had independently of whatever the cartels are doing.
But the major motivator for crime in mexico, is the easy money with drugs (especially because the alternatives are poor).
So yes, even with all drugs legal, there will still be organized crime for prostitution and weapon smuggling, etc. but the crime organisations won't have bigger budgets then the police and army anymore
From Wikipedia:
"The Organization of American States estimated that the revenue for cocaine sales in the U.S. was $34 billion in 2013. "
The principal revenue source of all the major cartels is the drug trade, by far. They are diversifying but their real power to suborn the apparatus of the state and its officials in Mexico is backed by the revenues from narcotics. These organizations simply wouldn't be this pervasive or powerful if they lost that. Avacados don't buy all those officials and even if they did, it would be on a much more local, less dangerous scale.
So in brief, your argument about the drug trade and the continuing illegality of drugs not being directly relevant to the cartels and their activity is wrong.
I've been living down here for nearly two decades by the way and watching these things, so just a bit of contextual knowledge of how the situation works.