Tucson Weekly: “While marijuana advocates look to legalize in Arizona, concerns remain about medical marijuana program. Some supporters of the medical marijuana program—and the push for a potential recreational program—argue that a legal, taxed market helps curb drug cartels and illegal trafficking in the state. Federal and local officials said there’s no evidence Arizona’s medical marijuana program has hurt the black market. Phoenix Police Department Commander Brent Vermeer said via email that he didn’t have empirical data to show the impact of medical marijuana on law enforcement, but ‘it unequivocally has not impacted the cartels’ sales practices for marijuana.’ He wrote in an email that the department has investigated homicides related to marijuana, and burglars recently stole $500,000 worth of marijuana from one dispensary.”
