One of the concerns state lawmakers must consider when debating cannabis legalization bills is the possibility that the passage of such bills could encourage drug trafficking. There will always be that group of people who choose to break the law. Unfortunately, legalization can encourage them to do it more often.
Here’s the truth straight up: cannabis legalization doesn’t make trafficking okay. It does not make operating on the black market okay, either. In every state where cannabis has been legalized, legislators have put certain controls in place. Operating outside of those controls amounts to trafficking.
Pulled Over in Utah
Law enforcement around the country can testify to the fact that marijuana’s black market is as strong as it has ever been. They can attest to the fact that drug traffickers continue to be caught and prosecuted. So no matter how much pro-cannabis advocates say that legalization will reduce crime, it does no such thing. It only reduces the number of cannabis crimes on the books.
In Utah, a state trooper was recently reminded of just how prevalent drug trafficking is after stopping a couple who were later found in possession of marijuana, cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and a large amount of cash.
Just the marijuana alone was enough to get the couple in trouble. In Utah, only medical cannabis is allowed. The owners of Deseret Wellness, a pro-medical cannabis pharmacy, say that only legal card holders can possess. Furthermore, all medical cannabis in Utah must be produced and sold in the state.
A History of Drug Charges
News reports suggest neither one of the suspects had a valid medical cannabis card. That aside, the couple does have a long and extensive history of drug charges. Neither one has any known ties to Utah, either. This suggests that they were passing through the state on their way to another destination.
All evidence points to two people who were engaged in drug trafficking to one extent or another. Of course, courts will weigh the evidence to ultimately determine the outcome of the case. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it is probably a duck.
Demand Fuels the Fire
It’s one thing to look at the Utah case and congratulate the state trooper for doing his job. It is another thing entirely to step back and ask why the suspects were willing to travel through the Beehive State in possession of illegal substances. Their reasoning is encapsulated in a single word: demand.
Demand for illicit drugs fuels the fire that is drug trafficking. This is the one thing that seems to be missing so often from discussions about cannabis legalization. In the simplest possible terms, people want drugs.
If we collectively decide that we don’t care, then let’s just open the door to any and all drugs. But if we do care, then the debate over cannabis legalization is considerably less important than figuring out why people want drugs and how such attitudes can be changed.
Drug Trafficking Will Continue
In the absence of a meaningful discussion about the motivations of drug use, drug trafficking will continue unabated. Even when Washington finally gets around to decriminalizing marijuana, drug trafficking will not suddenly stop. Even marijuana will continue to be trafficked illegally by black-market operators.
Cannabis legalization does not make trafficking okay. It does little more than prove just how prevalent drug trafficking is. As long as people want drugs and the black market can produce them cheaply enough, traffickers will continue making millions. No amount of decriminalization will stop that. If modern society is okay with that, so be it.
