Reasons Marijuana Legalization Seems To Be Failing

One of the biggest arguments made by cannabis advocates when trying to sell their spiel to politicians and voters was that legal weed would eliminate the black market. This, they said, would make it more difficult for children to get their hands on pot than in decades past while also generating significant tax revenue for the states. But the underground pot trade hasn’t really gone anywhere. In fact, it is only growing stronger now that criminal organizations have the luxury of being domestically based instead of running distribution from Mexico.

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Stop the "green rush"

Stop the "green rush"

What I learned is that just because prohibition failed, it does not mean legalization is succeeding. Few of the most significant benefits legalization advocates promised were materializing. The thirst for profit and the interests of powerful corporations were swiftly sidelining small-scale producers and retailers, even as we filmed. The need to provide justice to the victims of the war on drugs has been lost in the “green rush.” It was the same old story: powerful corporate interests coopt a nominally progressive social movement and warp it to their own benefit.

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Legalizing Marijuana Has Created a Black Market Plaguing Riverside County

Legalizing Marijuana Has Created a Black Market Plaguing Riverside County

There is a new sheriff in Riverside County, and he is attacking the illegal marijuana cultivation that’s plaguing his community in Southern California. Sheriff Chad Bianco was elected in November 2018, and has taken on the growing black market with a vengeance.

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‘Getting Worse, Not Better’: Illegal Pot Market Booming in California Despite Legalization

‘Getting Worse, Not Better’: Illegal Pot Market Booming in California Despite Legalization

It’s been a little more than a year since California legalized marijuana — the largest such experiment in the United States — but law enforcement officials say the unlicensed, illegal market is still thriving and in some areas has even expanded.

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