Legalizing marijuana won't end the drug war

In the last election Washington State and Colorado legalized possession of marijuana (in varying amounts depending on the form of the drug) for people over 21. The proponents of marijuana legalization argued in part that making the drug legal would undercut gangs and cartels. Now that the election is over and the pro-dope forces won, it turns out that such a happy outcome is extremely unlikely. Why, you ask? Human nature would be my initial response, but there is a market-based answer as well:  because the traffic in drugs has moved on from marijuana to other drugs, as this article by Keegan Hamilton over at The Atlantic online points out. And one law enforcement official notes that gangs and cartels that are still involved in marijuana sales and trafficking now have some legal protection from law enforcement:

"I just don't see the legislation of marijuana causing any problems for the criminals," Gagliardi said. "The gangs are still going to grow marijuana and they're still going to sell marijuana, only now it will be legal for them to walk around with an ounce supply individually packaged and not have any repercussions."

Marijuana legalization does not appear to be the law enforcement panacea that its proponents argued.  Of course, legalizing dope has never been about undercutting crime. It it fundamentally part of the ongoing rush of our culture towards bread and circuses.

Related item: Merle Haggard had the best approach in his classic anthem to sanity from the 1960's: