Organized Crime In The
Marijuana Trade.
Why More "Law Enforcement" is Counterproductive.
An Excellent Halifax Editorial Says, "Marijuana laws encourage crime."
(Marijuananews note: One of the problems with
prohibitionists is that quite often they don’t seem to realize that their conclusions
don’t follow from their assumptions, whether or not they are true. First,
"organized crime" is one of those terms that are used without any thought given
to its meaning, like the word "drugs."
See
"Mom, Dad, What are
Drugs?"
Two or more people breaking the law may be called "organized crime," but the
image is that of violent groups, like the Mafia, or the Colombian cartels.
Undoubtedly, there is some "organized crime" – in Canada meaning
primarily "biker gangs"– involved in the contraband marijuana trade. I am
dubious about how extensive it is, especially in Vancouver, where marijuana growing is a
cottage industry which does not need any help from "organized crime."
The prohibitionists like to use the supposed involvement of these groups as an excuse
for more enforcement, both inside Canada, and on the border.
However, to the degree that "organized crime" is involved, it is – as
the editorial below observes – the result of marijuana prohibition. Moreover, to the
degree that enforcement is increased, it will actually encourage more "organized
crime" involvement.
For example, only larger organizations have the capital to set up elaborate covers for
operations. They also have the resources to bribe police, custom officials and border
guards. This is increasingly a problem along the Mexican border. Violent groups may make
officials an offer they can’t refuse. The expression is "lead or silver"
--meaning a bullet or a bribe.
In short, while the police claim that they have to do more to stop marijuana growing
because of "organized crime," busting smaller grow operations and small
scale smuggling of the sort now being targeted gives a competitive edge to those with more
capital.
In so far as the increased enforcement has any effect on supply, it will also increase
the incentives for growing and smuggling. These increased risks and rewards will also give
larger organizations a competitive advantage over smaller operations.
Finally, after the police have injected more violence into the business, less violent
people will be at a disadvantage.
To repeat, more prohibition enforcement will not solve any problems. Marijuana
prohibition is not just a failure. It is actually counterproductive, making worse all of
the problems that it was supposed to solve.)
October 7, 1999
From The Halifax Daily News
Editorial
letterstoeditor@hfxnews.southam.ca
http://www.hfxnews.southam.ca/
(Marijuananews note: The Halifax Daily News has carried a number
of excellent articles about marijuana prohibition.)
See
A
Canadian Makes A Brutally Frank Utilitarian Argument: Legalize Drugs, All Of Them
and
Ask A Philosopher:
"July 1 is Cannabis Day in Canada. What more can the legalization movement do?"
and
How Conservatives
Tuned In, Turned On And Took Over The Legalization Debate In Canada;
A Great Overview
Marijuana laws encourage crime
GRUDGING concessions are being made by Ottawa to the use of marijuana for medical
purposes. So far only a handful of Canadians have been able to prove their illnesses
benefit from smoking this "weed" long celebrated as a harmless recreation or
demonized as the first step to "hard-drug" addiction.
Both these views have sincere advocates. But the biggest social
problem with marijuana is not whether it's better or worse for you than substances such as
alcohol, tobacco or drugstore pills. It is the connection between its illegal status and
organized crime.
Much blather has been heard about marijuana's 20th-century history, from its use by
jazz musicians before the middle class heard about it to the 1960s when Bill Clinton did
not inhale, and up to the current scene when many citizens break the law by smoking pot,
but do not otherwise commit criminal acts.
As for medical claims, marijuana and its derivatives were known for relieving sun-dry
physical ailments as far back as 3000 BC. Today, most evidence suggests marijuana mostly
induces tranquillity and isn't physically addicting. However, excessive use has been
linked to anxiety, impaired reaction, and other temporary disabilities that might (like
taking pain-killers) weigh against operating heavy machinery.
WHILE these ancient spats rage on, professional dealing and trafficking of marijuana is
hugely profitable and tax-free. U.S. anti-drug officials claim B.C.
marijuana, with its high tetrahydrocannabinol content, is smuggled to U.S. gangs in a
trade for cocaine, which at least in its crack form cannot be dismissed as harmless.
(Marijuananews note: Notice that they say simply that DEAland "anti-drug officials
claim…" This is nonsense, but again, marijuana prohibition is the problem, not
the solution.)
While the "drug war" by police and government agencies is stretched by using
resources to enforce laws against small-time dealers and "recreational" users,
the biker gangs and other criminals churn millions of dollars in illegal drugs of all
types.
It leads to outrageous breaches of the law such as the death threats revealed by Quebec
MP Yvan Loubier. The Bloc Quebecois representative has defended farmers in his riding
terrorized by Montreal drug gangs who plant marijuana crops on their land and coerce them
into keeping silent.
The terrifying situation for Mr. Loubier, his family and those constituents is an
argument in itself for taking the marijuana trade out of the hands of criminals. That can
only be achieved by treating marijuana as a legal, but regulated, product, just as alcohol
control was taken from gangsters after Prohibition.
The Chretien government has an opportunity to end
organized-crime control of marijuana, even if "decriminalization" offends the
Washington anti-drug establishment whose "war" has limitless budgets but limited
success.
(Marijuananews note: More and more Canadians are bluntly
saying that their "drugs" policies are made in Washington, not Ottawa.)
See
"Current
Drug Policy In Canada
(Imported From US And Diluted For The Gentler Canadian Psyche) Is Just Not Working"
and
The Ottawa
Citizen Tells It Like It Is:
A Great Editorial On Drug War Summit,
Medical Marijuana and DEAland Narco-Imperialism
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