Hand holding a paper sheet with marijuana leaf symbol over a crowded street background. Cannabis legalization as medical drug. CBD healing social issue concept.
Legalizing marijuana puts the kibosh on marijuana crimes, right? Only if you live in a world in which people are inherently good. But that is not the world we live in. Despite marijuana being legal in three dozen states, crimes related to the plant continue unabated. A recent indictment in Oklahoma proves as much.
Back in June 2022, two Oklahoma City law firm partners were indicted by a grand jury for running an illegal marijuana licensing scheme. They used their law firm and its employees to illegally provide growing licenses to out-of-state operators. The state found out about it only when one of the firm’s employees reported the shenanigans.
75% Ownership Rule
Under Oklahoma law, a company growing marijuana in the state must be at least 75% owned by a state resident. The law was implemented to prevent Oklahoma from becoming a free-for-all when cannabis was legalized years ago. But the two law partners could not abide by state regulations. They decided that there was too much money in helping out-of-state interests obtain licenses illegally.
The scheme was not all that sophisticated. Interested parties would express their interest in obtaining a license. The law partners would draft the paperwork, collect a $3000 fee, and have an employee sign as majority owner, effectively making that individual a ghost owner.
Whether or not the ghost owner would derive any financial benefit from the arrangement is unclear. But even if so, it is hard to believe that employees asked to sign the documents didn’t feel immense pressure to do so. That is what the boss wants, that’s what he gets.
Money to Be Made
Two law partners getting busted in Oklahoma isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Across the country, the marijuana black market continues to thrive despite so many efforts to legalize one of the world’s oldest psychoactive plants. The simple truth is that there is money to be made.
In Utah, cannabis can only be consumed medically. Patients can only buy cannabis at a state-licensed pharmacy, like the Deseret Wellness pharmacy in Provo. Does anyone think there is no black market operating in Utah? Of course there is. The black market existed before Proposition 2. It continues to operate today.
Claiming that legalization will reduce marijuana crimes is just a way to convince people who don’t think. Legalized gambling has never eliminated all the crime associated with that activity. Legalizing booze and prohibition haven’t stopped bootlegging.
We Need the Ability to Prosecute
The truth about marijuana is that we cannot have it both ways. If we want to completely eliminate marijuana crimes, then we have to take a completely hands-off approach altogether. That means complete deregulation and decriminalization. It means there cannot be any licenses, taxes, mandatory testing, etc.
The other option is to decriminalize with some measure of regulation at the federal and state levels. With regulation comes the need and ability to prosecute. Simply put, we need the ability to go after people who flout the regulations. And as long as regulations exists, there will be people willing to flout them.
None of this is to say that we should turn back the clock on marijuana laws. It is simply to say that we need to start being honest about it. Promoting legalization as a way to reduce crime is a red herring. It is a myth used to convince people who do not think that legalization is a good thing.
Let’s just be honest. Legalization does not stop marijuana crimes. It never has and never will. With that out of the way, let us get back to prosecuting what is currently illegal.
