Demand in Mexico for Potent California Marijuana Creates Southbound Smuggling Jean Guerrero - KPBS
go to original October 21, 2016

A sign on the southbound Interstate 5 warns against smuggling marijuana into Mexico or the United States (Katie Schoolov)

California’s cultivation of marijuana has created an unprecedented phenomenon: southbound smuggling of the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexico’s demand for potent California strains is on the rise as Mexican drug cartels have mostly failed to make a competitive homegrown product.

“If you’re in Mexico, and you want the best marijuana out there, there’s only one place to get it,” said Matthew Shapiro, a San Diego-based attorney who specializes in marijuana. “There’s no such thing as high-quality Mexican weed.”

California’s initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use could further boost southbound smuggling, experts on both sides of the border told KPBS. It would make it easier for Tijuana residents with visas or dual citizenship to access California’s more potent strains — and bring it back to Mexico.

It’s illegal to move marijuana from the U.S. to Mexico, just as it’s illegal to move the drug from Mexico into the U.S. But it’s easier to smuggle southbound. At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, drivers can cross the border into Tijuana without ever stopping to speak with a Mexican official.

At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, drivers can cross the border into Tijuana without ever stopping to speak with a Mexican official. That's in contrast to northbound border crossings, which involve lengthy wait times as U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials stop each entrant at least briefly.



Tijuana’s public drug rehabilitation clinic, Centro de Integración Juveníl, has seen an increase in patients with self-described addictions to California marijuana, largely Mexicans with visas or dual citizenship who have access to San Diego dispensaries or friends with medical cards.

Read the rest at KPBS

Related: Drug Tunnel Between U.S. and Mexico Found Inside Tijuana Ice Factory (Fox News Latino)

Related: Legal Weed Is Now More Popular Than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump (Slate)

Related: Trump's Wall Wouldn't Help Win the War on Drugs, But Legalization Could (Civilized)

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