The cartels will get even richer and stronger as they can now operate legal businesses. They're already involved in legal cannabis industry in the USA anyway and have plenty of political cover via corruption and money flows.
I worked in the legal cannabis industry in the US for several years. While I’m sure organized crime has inroads, you’re wildly overstating it. The “cartels” running the legal market are well funded real estate and tech operators with a reputation that precedes them.
Sure, there's a lot of foreign Chinese cartel money too. A lot of this is regional and more focused in Western states like California. The real estate and tech guys are either small-time independents or controlled by bigger money.
> They're already involved in legal cannabis industry in the USA anyway.
How so?
Just like any other organized crime that can invest and launder money. Even better when it's forced to be a cash-only industry thanks to federal regulations.
Yeah that is just a dumb limitation.
It’s dumb, but it’s literally the way the entire US federal system works (nearly all federal power comes from the interstate commerce clause, cash-only is because electronic systems are almost exclusively regulated by it, except the constant flow of Bitcoin scams).
How much do the Cartels depend on marijuana versus other harder drugs (like cocaine)? Maybe this won't affect the cartels at all. Also, hard to imagine Mexican government (who I've heard is in the pockets of cartels anyway) would do something that would hurt the cartels' bottom line.
If the cartels become legitimate businesses, what problem do you have with them?
What? They're still cartels. Their past crimes aren't removed and their behavior won't change. They're already front many legitimate businesses for money laundering, this just makes their core business even easier.