Drug Trade and Illegal Immigrants Zach Boyle Mackenzie Cole Tyler Wineke

War on Drugs ●The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second. State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars ●In 2007 alone, illicit drug use cost taxpayers more than $193 billion in lost productivity, health care, and criminal justice costs

Future Effects ● Continued usage of harmful drugs could slow work productivity and waste money on drug regulation

Worldwide Users ● The U.S. is one of the world’s largest Cannabis consumers

Stopping Illegal Drug Flow ● The US spends an estimated $40 million per year. ●The DEA estimates we capture less than 10 percent of all illicit drugs. ●Gulf, Sinaloa, and Juárez are the biggest Cartels

Legal Marijuana In the USA ●Colorado received $60 million in taxes and fees from marijuana in ●US Marijuana has 20% THC while Mexican grown Marijuana has 3%. ●Estimated $145 million saved fighting marijuana.

Solutions ● If all 50 states legalized marijuana, an estimated $3 Billion would be collected in tax revenue. ● This in combination with the money saved from fighting the war on drugs could be put towards a cause such as the National Debt

Illegal Immigration ● Estimated 11,200,000 immigrants live in the US ● 55% of Illegal immigrants are from Mexico w hile only 10,478 are from Canada ● 30.1% of the illegal immigrants are ● 71.8% live above the poverty line ●Estimated 97% of people who try to cross the U.S.- Mexico border eventually succeed at entering the country

Connection ● Many people who come to the U.S. from Mexico are involved in the drug trade. When they cross over into the U.S. they bring their lifestyle with them and continue the drug trade

What Should We Do? ● Because illegal immigrants cause jobs to be scarce and cost taxpayers more money, many people think we should limit the number of illegal immigrants as much as possible ● It has been proposed that we build a wall along the U.S. Mexico border

US Mexican Border ●If the US built a wall it would cost an estimated $300 million per mile. ●The US-Mexico border is 1,945 miles long.

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