The legalization of cannabis in the United States hit the pocket of Mexican cards

US authorities have initiated studies to assess the impact of cannabis legalization on the black market. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that the demand for contraband is falling in sync with the decriminalization of cannabis in individual states. Most of all, the reforms of the American government affect the well-being of the Mexican cartels that flooded the US black market.

Falling demand for Mexican hemp

The situation with the illegal circulation of psychoactive products was analyzed by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In the report, the commission concluded the following:

“For the foreseeable future, Mexican raw materials will become less desirable in the US, so other psychoactive products will replace them on the black market. This trend is observed due to the legalization of medicinal marijuana in certain states of Canada and the United States. As a result, it becomes unprofitable for illegal producers from Mexico to grow cannabis.”

The report says that in 2019, Mexican law enforcement officers seized 91 tons of finished products on the black market and burned plants on 5,560 acres. This scale may seem huge, but over the past 10 years, supply volumes have decreased significantly. In addition, a potential legalization in Mexico would further reduce the demand for contraband products.

The CRS report proves the objectivity of previous studies that examined the relationship between legalization of marijuana in the US and a decrease in demand for a product from the black market. In 2018, Cato Institute experts concluded that decriminalization provoked a backlash. Now Mexicans buy legal raw materials in California and legally transport them to their homeland.