The Effect of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington on the Global Economy

The Effect of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington on the Global Economy Marijuana has been one of the most highly debated topics for years, many people don’t understand the reasoning for its prohibition and others stand strong on their beliefs that it should not under any circumstances be legalized. Whatever your opinion is on the subject in the most recent election two states- Colorado and Washington – both legalized the drug for recreational use and this has caused major debates and will have a major impact on the global economy.
As someone from Colorado, this subject has come up many times so I figured I’d do a little research on it and see the real implications of this law. The Mexican drug cartel is one of the largest illicit drug importation operations in the world, making billions of dollars annually trafficking drugs across the border into the United States and around a quarter of their profit is from Marijuana. Colorado and Washington are both relatively far from the Mexican American border but there is still a significant amount of import into these states.
The fact that this drug is now legal means that the cartel will lose millions if not billions of dollars which as a result will make the cartel smaller. No one can complain about this but the only problem is that now they will have to rely on other, more dangerous drugs, to make a profit. The Mexican government realizes this issue but they also realize that with marijuana being legal they can make the money, which would have otherwise gone to the cartel through the legal import of the drug.

The only problem is that under federal law cannabis is still illegal and so as a result so is the importation of it. If this law changes – which is highly likely – the Mexican government will have a major source of revenue that they can capitalize on. The trend is indicating that total legalization will be happening in the near future. Many South American countries, which have been hesitant in the past to pass any laws concerning cannabis, have since reconsidered as a result of the legalization in the two American states.
Countries such as Argentina and Uruguay are looking into changing their laws as they see the potential revenue that can come as a result of legalization. Most experts believe that the southern most countries will legalize the drug first and then move north, this trend will continue until all of the Americas have legalized it and will possibly move to other parts of the world. The impact of the vote in Colorado and Washington has reached much further than just the United States; the voters in these states probably didn’t know the full implication of their decision.
Regardless this is a major topic of discussion and could quite possibly change the world depending on what happens. People say that marijuana is the gateway drug and this could be more true than ever with these laws being passed they will open a gateway into a whole new realm of economic possibilities and trade opportunities. Work Cited Thomson, Adam. “Marijuana: Mexico’s Latest Export to the US? ” Ft. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. <http://blogs. ft. com/beyond-brics/2012/11/09/mariijuana-mexicos-latest-export-to-the-us/>. Khazan, Olga. How Marijuana Legalization Will Affect Mexico’s Cartels, in Charts. ” Http://www. washingtonpost. com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/09/how-marijuana-legalization-will-affect-mexicos-cartels-in-charts/. N. p. , n. d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. Johnson, Tim. “U. S. Marijuana Vote May Have Snowball Effect in Latin America. ” The Seattle Times. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. <http://seattletimes. com/html/nationworld/2019631247_elxnpotlatin08. html? prmid=head_main>. Graham, Dave. “Ally of Mexico’s Pena Nieto Backs Export of Marijuana. ” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 08 Nov. 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2013.