The Epoch Times
By
Seven years after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, the market for cannabis is booming. But rather than propagate a legal agricultural sector that grows the state’s economy as intended, the industry has taken a dark turn in Southern Oregon. Today, it is cultivating an ecosystem of international organized crime, human trafficking, and environmental degradation.
Oregon voters were told that legalization would put an end to the black market for marijuana. Taxing the legal product would help to fund schools and police—both of which have suffered tremendous loss of revenue in the state since federal policies led to a decline in timber revenues, proponents of legalization said.
At first, these expectations played out as promised.