‘The Infiltrator’ Explains Why Legalizing Drugs Will Change Nothing
The Infiltrator has come and gone (mostly) from theaters, but the film is still considered a shoo-in for Oscar nominations, especially as it concerns the performance of Bryan Cranston.
What many may not realize about his character, though, is that the lead protagonist is based on the real-life Robert Mazur, who stopped by the Adam Carolla Podcast this week to discuss the drug problem along the Mexican-American border.
Unfortunately, the insider doesn’t have a lot of good news for those of you concerned about the war on drugs.
Get the true story behind @robertmazur‘s undercover work that inspired @InfiltratorMov: https://t.co/iI52aCuGsD pic.twitter.com/2C5mIdAKDb
— RealClearLife (@RealClearLife) July 19, 2016
When Carolla steered the real-life Infiltrator to the topic of whether legalizing drugs would do any good, Mazur brought his blunt expertise to the forefront with a clear prognosis.
It wouldn’t do any good whatsoever.
“These organizations are more than just drug organizations now because they’re working with terrorist organizations,” Mazur said, adding that they were deep into “many different types of crime beyond drug trafficking.”
He continued,
“We’re not going to win this thing — we’re not going to accomplish anything — if all our focus is on the supply side. We have to focus on the demand side in a very, very aggressive way, and I really think that education, treatment, and economic opportunity in certain segments of the United States is going to be able to substantially bring down the amount of demand that is out there.”
The violence and brutality demonstrated by the drug cartels will stick around regardless of legal standing, he said, and “you’re going to have this type of thing going on whether you legalize it or whether you don’t legalize it because the black market is going to evolve.”
By “evolve,” Mr. Infiltrator himself pointed to Washington and Colorado — two states where marijuana is now legal with the caveat that “there’s only a certain number of people licensed to be able to do that so the cost of high-end marijuana has skyrocketed,” he said.
All in all, Washington and Colorado have opened up a “fantastic opportunity” for the cartels to exploit the black market and make “a very good profit” off of selling their goods, Mazur said.
PREVIOUS ‘THE INFILTRATOR’ COVERAGE FROM THE INQUISITR:
Bryan Cranston Is Undercover DEA In ‘The Infiltrator’ [Video]
Bryan Cranston’s ‘Breaking Bad’ Past Makes Him ‘Scared’ Of Playing DEA Agent In ‘The Infiltrator’
Ultimately, the U.N. has estimated that around $400 billion per year is being generated from the sale of illegal drugs, and that number climbs to $2 trillion when other crimes, such as “tax evasion, white collar fraud, illegal arms dealing, and pilfering treasuries and dealing with prohibited nations” are factored into the mix, the real-life Infiltrator said.
“There’s a huge amount of money out there and nobody is putting those people behind bars.”
Split-level townhouse- an air conditioning vent that I cut a hole in to install recording equipment. #TheInfiltrator pic.twitter.com/D6ZBmFjnUb
— Robert Mazur (@robertmazur) July 18, 2016
The whole podcast is worth a listen if you haven’t had the chance to see the movie — or even if you have. In it, Carolla touches on other questions like whether ISIS is getting across the border and which candidate that the cartels and terrorists would rather see in the White House come January 2017.
But what do you think, readers?
Have you seen The Infiltrator yet, and do you believe that Mazur is correct in stating that legalizing drugs will do nothing to stop cartels from exploiting the black market? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Image via Paramount]
