Medical Marijuana Isn't Grown by Mexican Drug Cartels

Dennis Romero at LA Weekly is supremely confident that medical marijuana laws are generating revenue for Mexican traffickers:

It's a notion that's hard to believe: Mexican cartels don't operate grows in the National Forests right here in California? They don't run area grow houses? Not an ounce of Mexican weed ends up in your local pot shop? Really?

Leaving aside the fact – well known among consumers – that mass-produced Mexican pot bears no resemblance to the fine organic cannabis sold in dispensaries, Romero's argument is incoherent on another level entirely. The very idea that an ounce or two of gangster dope sneaking into the medical marijuana market somehow discredits the whole system is plainly stupid for one simple reason: every ounce that wasn't grown by the Mexican cartels is one less ounce they get to sell. Duh.

It really is something to observe the pathetic willingness of our opponents to just grab onto any absurd scare tactic no matter how far removed it may be from actually proving their point. Anyone who is truly serious about defunding murderous drug cartels should be nothing short of fascinated by what the medical marijuana industry has accomplished in that regard. No, it's not perfect. Yes, you will find examples of abuse, as you would in any other industry. But how could anyone deny that an industry once monopolized by organized crime is being taken over by tax-paying Americans with business degrees and pleasant dispositions? This is the future of marijuana in America, and the sooner our opponents cease to obstruct our progress with frivolous distractions, the more we can do to push crooks and killers out of the industry.