Six years following California’s legalization of marijuana, the promised benefits have not materialized, according to a recent report by the Gatestone Institute, a non-profit who specializes in reporting on overlooked stories not covered by corporate media institutions. Instead, the state faces escalating violence and an illegal drug trade that continues to flourish. Earlier this year, six men were found murdered in the Mojave Desert, with four of them having been shot and burned. This incident echoes a 2020 massacre where seven people were killed at an illegal pot farm in Riverside County.
Advocates of legalization argued that making marijuana legal would dismantle the control of cartels, the black market and reduce drug violence. However, the reality has been starkly different. The legal marijuana market in California is struggling, with revenues declining steadily. Similar patterns are observed in other states like Colorado, where despite boasting $282 million in drug revenue, the financial benefits are overshadowed by the expenses related to homelessness, drug overdoses, and law enforcement.
California’s situation is exacerbated by an approach where the state spends substantial resources combating illegal marijuana even as it taxes the legal market. Governor Gavin Newsom had promised to address the budget deficit with $100 million in drug revenue to fund law enforcement and substance abuse programs. Despite these efforts, illegal marijuana operations dominate, with the state seizing over $300 million in untaxed pot this year alone.
A Los Angeles Times investigation highlighted that Proposition 64, California’s 2016 cannabis initiative, failed to curtail the illegal trade. Instead, it spurred a surge in illegal cultivation across rural areas like the Mojave Desert, North Coast, and Sierra Nevada. Residents in these regions now live in fear, surrounded by heavily armed illegal operations.
The illegal marijuana industry is controlled predominantly by cartels and gangs, facilitated by open borders that allow a steady influx of laborers. These criminal organizations have expanded their reach beyond California, affecting states as distant as Maine. Mexican cartels control much of the West Coast, while Asian organized crime, particularly the Chinese Triads, has established a stronghold in states like Oklahoma. These groups not only dominate the marijuana market but also traffic in more dangerous drugs like heroin and fentanyl.
The legal marijuana market’s collapse is evident in cases like MedMen, a company once valued at $3 billion that now faces bankruptcy with $411 million in liabilities. Despite legal avenues for obtaining marijuana, 80% of California’s pot remains illegal. Politicians may celebrate hundreds of millions in revenue, but the reality is that cartels are profiting billions, taking over vast tracts of land.
Legalization has led to increased homelessness, drug abuse, and illegal migration. It has strengthened organized crime, making life worse in states that adopted these policies. While some argue that reducing taxes on legal marijuana could revitalize the market, the fundamental issue remains: legal businesses cannot compete with the organized crime syndicates that dominate the illegal trade.
Ultimately, the failure of drug legalization policies highlights the complex challenges of managing drug markets and underscores the unintended consequences of such reforms.