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Although already answered by Danarhea, and the initiative does take necessary steps to deal with the supply chain issue, the effect on the cartels will still be minimal, since this is but one of 50 states that are funding the cartels, and marijuana is ~60% of their income (Mexican cartels that is), and other drugs are the rest.
True. I once asked one of my former clients, a drug-dealer, what she would do if mj was legalized. She told me, "there will always be someone to sell to and something to sell."
For starters, street gangs in southern California didn't start to distribute dope. They started because of socio-economic, racial, and family issues. So, removing mj from their realm isn't going to dissipate them.
Beyond that, the cartels are highly organized and have access to massive amounts of capital. If mj is taken off their plate in California, they still have plenty of presence in other states. Further, they are already big into heroin, cocaine, and meth, so mj is just one of the substances they distribute.
Having said that, though, it's become abundantly clear to me over the years that we've already lost the drug war on mj. It's too proliferated in too many places through out American society. I've become aware that a high percentage of adults in my community get high on a regular basis. I exist outside of that, but I have come to believe that I'm somewhat outnumbered.
What it will do is allow resources to be better focused on real crime, and it will reduce the amount of money going to local gangs, which in turn will have a negative pressure on gang allure and influence on kids.
In my experience, having worked with street gang programs in Los Angeles, money is only a relatively minor reason that kids join gangs there. There are much other, larger issues. Just the presence of gangs in their neighborhoods is a huge predictor of gang joining.
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