Why Mexican Pot Smokers Are Looking to the US to Get High

Looking for a boutique high, they circumvent cartels and open pot swap meets of their own.

By Emily DonahueMarch 17, 2015 9:28 am,

Mexican pot smokers are growing their own weed – and trading it with their friends – to get around going to the cartels.

Peter Orsi reports for the Associated Press that “It’s a small but growing market in a country where marijuana is largely illegal, unlike the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington that have legalized recreational use, and others where medicinal pot is available.”

Orsi tells David Brown that, so far, the market and business are small, and he’s only heard anecdotal accounts. Neither Mexican nor American authorities express concern. As to the cartels? “They tell me what they’re doing is entirely separate from the narco cartels. And in fact it allows them to avoid supporting these organized crime groups.”

This could be the start of a premium brand market for pot, though market share is likely to remain pretty small.

“The growers that I talked to .. they go online and research different strains and varieties. There are smart phone apps and websites where you have user reviews about what a certain kind of marijuana feels like, what kind of high it has, whether it makes you feel lethargic, helps a migraine, that kind of thing. They are looking for a boutique high potency, high end high.”