Now that many U.S. drug consumers can buy cheaper American-grown marijuana,
the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico has suffered a 40 percent drop in marijuana sales.
So Sinaloa operatives analyzed the market and devised a new business plan.
The cartel has increased production of Mexican heroin by almost 70 percent
and has raised the purity level of the drug from 46 to 90 percent.
By flooding the U.S. with “cinnamon” heroin as strong as the East Asian product,
it is hoping to make up for declining marijuana sales.
The result?
Esquire magazine wrote on August 9 that legalizing marijuana is a root cause of a
heroin epidemic in America. Casualties from heroin now amount to 200 overdose
deaths a week. America’s ravenous appetite for deadly drugs including heroin,
cocaine, methamphetamines and others is fueling what the United Nations
estimates is a $320 billion a year business.
Americans may be able to cut into a cartel’s marijuana profits by providing the
drug to people legally, but such measures don’t stop cartels from selling even
more dangerous drugs. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who try marijuana
and then other drugs is likely to increase.