One of the many myths of marijuana legalization was that it would end the black market for pot and the illegal drug trade—at least, that’s what pro-cannabis supporters have promised. But that’s not what has happened: some of the states with the largest legal markets are dealing with rampant illegal production. So much so that legal states such as Oregon and California are still furnishing the majority of America’s illegal weed, and the black market is booming across the country, according to a report in Politico. In California, most of the state continues to purchases pot from unlicensed sources. What is happening in the woods of southern Oregon—which has become a center for illegal cannabis grow farms, as well as drug cartels—is one of the most confounding paradoxes of legalization. Illegal farms scare local residents, scar the landscape, and attract criminal activity. Some say it’s an economic problem, due to high taxes on legal weed, but critics argue that legalization has created greater demand, thereby attracting more sellers, both legal and illegal.
Meanwhile, the opioid addiction and overdose epidemic continues unabated, with Washington, D.C. reporting a 46 percent increase in 2020 from the previous year. Recently, there were 10 overdoses in the District in a matter of hours—three of them fatal. Before the pandemic, Mayor Muriel Bowser promised to cut the number of opioid deaths in half, but now such fatalities outpace homicides. Health officials say that two years ago, most of the cases in D.C. were 18 to 26 years old, but today that has shifted to 46 to 55-year olds, many of them with medical conditions that make an overdose harder to survive.
And finally, the Sackler family, founders of opioid maker Purdue Pharma, are said to be near an agreement upping their share of a settlement to resolve years-long opioid litigation. Reports say the Sacklers might boost their more than $4 billion offer in order to overcome objections from 8 states who opposed the deal because it shielded the family from further legal liability. Recently, a judge agreed with this claim, noting that members of the Sackler family had not individually filed for bankruptcy protection. Billions of dollars in settlement money are currently in the pipeline from the sprawling litigation against opioid manufacturers, drug distributors, and retail pharmacies, with the money going toward drug prevention, education, and treatment programs.