Oregon legalized weed and this hasn't been a huge problem. But if people fear it is, the solution to this is simple. Make it easy to become a legal grower.
> The $2.78 billion in illegal marijuana found in Southern Oregon dwarfs the nearly $1.2 billion in legal marijuana sold at shops in the entire state in 2021.
> Behind the scenes, immigrant workers may face threats of violent retaliation against their relatives in Mexico if they complain about living and working conditions at illegal sites, or the withholding of wages.
> “The cartels will kill their family back in Mexico. They know there is a realistic likelihood that would happen,” Barden said.
https://www.mailtribune.com/top-stories/2022/01/22/pot-busts...
> “We’ve heard of the threat of harm to your family if you don’t go with us”, Daniel said. “And then they are transported up to the location. From what we are understanding, these workers are not paid until the end of the year when the shipment goes out and the money is brought in. There’s not like a weekly payroll going on here.”
> Sixteen other state and federal agencies joined the Josephine County Sheriff’s department in the raid, including the Department of Homeland Security. The operation included more than 1,300 acres of property as well as 200 workers.
> Officials found workers living in squalid conditions, which included sleeping on cardboard mats or inside tends. Workers denying that they had been trafficked, Daniel said. The Department of Homeland Security offered victim services to the workers, but all turned them down, according to Daniel. This could be for several reasons, including fear of their employers or immigration authorities.
https://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/2021/08/southern-oregon...
> Sergeant Cliff Barden, of the Oregon State Police Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET), said illegal grows in Klamath County are clearly linked to drug cartels. He said the cartel’s strategy in the area is to overwhelm local agencies and resources with the sheer volume of production, ensuring that much of the operation will go unnoticed and ultimate generating immense profits.
> “They are intentionally trying to overwhelm the system,” Barden said. “And that is why it is so difficult.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/clear-links-between-illega...
Take coffee for instance, it's widely grown in South America--is most of the production run by cartels?
Or is it just that cannabis is a high-value crop, and it's easier to move the produce around the USA from within, rather than having to smuggle it over the border?
And if cannabis is a high-value crop, is it because not all states have 'legalised' it?
What if the whole world legalised cannabis, would it become like coffee?
As a different example, there are "dry towns" where alcohol sales are illegal. The bordering bars where it is legal do very well.