Federal law enforcement agents seized a historically low 61,000 pounds of marijuana at the southern border in 2023, representing a massive drop since 2013, the year state-level marijuana legalization laws first took effect in Colorado and Washington (with sales beginning in 2014).
This amount marks a significant 29% drop from 2022 and an even more stark 98% decrease since 2013—a year that saw over 2.4 million pounds of marijuana seized.
This substantial decline in seizures mirrors the rise of the state-legal marijuana markets across the United States, beginning around 2014. These legal markets have profoundly impacted the demand for Mexican cannabis, significantly reducing both its production and exportation.
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director at NORML, said that “When it comes to retail cannabis, the prevailing attitude is ‘Buy American.’” He elaborates, “The rise of the regulated state-legal cannabis market has not only supplanted Americans’ demand for Mexican cannabis but in many places, it has also disrupted the unregulated domestic marketplace.”
Reflecting a broader shift, a 2023 survey revealed that 52% of cannabis consumers in legal states now predominantly purchase their products from licensed brick-and-mortar stores, compared to a mere 6% who still rely on dealers.
Canada’s data echoes this trend, with only 37% of cannabis users turning to legal sources in 2019, which has since jumped to 69% in 2022. Meanwhile, only 4% of Canadian users in 2022 bought cannabis from the unregulated market, underscoring a significant move towards regulated transactions.
These statistics and more details about marijuana seizures can be found on the US Customs and Border Protection’s official website.
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