Canadian Cartels Less Involved in Cannabis

As legalization of cannabis sweeps Canada, cartels and illegal gangs are less likely to be involved with the plant’s manufacturing and distribution.

It has long been one of the standing arguments of the legalization movement that fewer restrictions on cannabis also means less criminal activity, and by association, safer streets and cities. It seems that in Canada, this prediction is becoming a reality. According to a recent article in The Globe and Mail, a new report from Statistics Canada shows that cartel crime in Victoria over the past two years has been way down when it comes to cannabis. Only 39 percent of cannabis trafficking crimes had to do with organized criminals, and only six percent of cannabis production cases could be linked to organized criminals.

Organized criminal activity is still a major issue in Canada for other drugs, but it appears that when it comes to cannabis, the data is pretty conclusive. Since Canada will introduce legislation that will legalize recreational cannabis this year, this is welcome news indeed. Still, to those on the inside of the industry, it does not come as news at all.

“To people who know how this industry has taken shape in many parts of [B.C.], this wouldn’t be news and, if anything, it would still amount to an over-emphasis on the extent of the organized criminal involvement,” Professor  Neil Boyd, a drug prohibition scholar, told The Globe and Mail.

“This isn’t a particularly uniformly predatory kind of conduct,” he expanded, discussing the selling and producing of cannabis. “If they were to look more closely at use of force or corruption, I think you would get a very significant drop in organized activity in relation to cannabis.”

This lends credibility to the idea that there will be a worldwide downturn in organized crime related to cannabis if legalization and an end to prohibition continues.