More protectionist measures?

In all, there are an estimated 1 to 3 million [marijuana] growers in the United States, with 100,000 to 200,000 commercial growers, according to Eric Schlosser, author of Reefer Madness. These figures don’t include those involved in clipping, dealing, tending and guarding, nor the scores of real-estate agents, carpenters, diggers, electricians and investors. These networks overlay each other, providing an alternate safety net in a state that has been in an almost continual budget-cutting crisis since the dot-com and technology bust in 2001.

(Michael Polson, “Tending ‘the Grow'” In These Times, 25 Jan. 2010)

Let’s see… the United States population is about three and a half times that of Mexico.  We’re supposed to be alarmed and outraged by the fact that  400,000 Mexicans said to be involved in the narcotics trade (including the real estate agents, carpenters, diggers, electricians and investors).  There would have to be 1.4 MILLLION marijuana growers alone just to catch up with the Colossus of the North in this industry.

Makes me wonder if all those attempts to legalize the trade in the United States aren’t just another protectionist measure for their own agriculture, or whether the Mexican government shouldn’t encourage the marijuana farmers to switch to something more profitable, like opium poppies.