Pubdate: Thu, 26 May 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jeffrey Zinsmeister
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n356/a11.html

MEXICO AND MARIJUANA

To the Editor:

Re "Legal Pot, Free Trade" (Op-Ed, May 21): Ioan Grillo's proposal 
for a Nafta-style market in legal marijuana mistakes a symptom of the 
organized-crime epidemic in Mexico - the illegal drug trade - for an 
underlying cause. Rather, the major driver appears to be the 
corruption infecting all levels of the Mexican state and economy.

Otherwise, it is hard to explain the Mexican government's chronic 
inability to keep organized crime from dominating so many legal 
businesses, like casino gambling, cigarettes and even something as 
banal as mining.

As late as 2014, the top three revenue streams of one cartel, the 
notorious Knights Templar, were mining, logging and garden-variety 
extortion. And the trend continues, with a 2016 Global Initiative 
Against Transnational Organized Crime report detailing how cartels 
are now a significant presence in gold mining in Mexico and across 
Latin America.

Legalizing an industry in Mexico therefore does not necessarily push 
the cartels out. Or in other words, how can one expect the Mexican 
state to keep legalized pot out of the hands of cartels if it cannot 
keep mining out of those very same hands?

JEFFREY ZINSMEISTER

Alexandria, Va.

The writer is executive vice president of Smart Approaches to 
Marijuana, a nonpartisan group, and a senior fellow at the University 
of Florida's Drug Policy Institute.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom