As the state marijuana legalization movement continues to expand, seizures of cannabis at southern border declined again in 2023, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The latest figures show agents intercepted roughly 61,000 pounds of cannabis in the region—a 29 percent drop from the year before.
The new numbers represent an ongoing decline in illicit marijuana seizures by border agents as more U.S. state legalization laws come online. In 2022, CBP authorities seized 154,797 pounds of cannabis nationwide—about half of the 319,447 pounds that were seized the year before.
Advocates for legalization say the data from the southern border is further evidence that state-regulated markets are shrinking demand for imported Mexican marijuana.
“When it comes to cannabis, the prevailing attitude is ‘Buy American,’” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a statement about the trend. “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.”
NORML noted that the 2023 figures mark a 98 percent decline in seized cannabis at the U.S.–Mexico border since 2013, when more than 2.4 million pounds were intercepted.
The advocacy group also cited a survey from last year in which 52 percent of U.S. cannabis consumers said they primarily obtain marijuana from brick-and-mortar establishments. The poll found that just 6 percent said they primarily get cannabis from a “dealer.”
As reports in recent years have pointed out, the dynamic has shifted so significantly that, at least in some cases, U.S. marijuana is now being smuggled into Mexico, where it commands premium prices. One vehicle recently stopped by authorities as it traveled from California to Tijuana held 5,600 jars of THC-infused gummies.
NORML said similar dynamics are being observed in Canada. In 2019, the first full year of legalization in that country, just over a third (37 percent) of consumers reported buying marijuana from legal sources. By 2022, that share had nearly doubled, to 69 percent. At that point, only 4 percent of respondents said they still purchased cannabis on the unregulated market.
The CBP data tracks with other indications of declines in illegal marijuana trafficking as a growing number of state laws give American consumers legal places to buy cannabis, including a March report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission that showed federal cases continue to fall.
While that report didn’t cite the specific number of marijuana trafficking cases in 2023, it dipped again compared to the previous 2022 low of 806, according to an included chart. By comparison, there were roughly 5,000 cannabis cases in 2013.
Meanwhile, cases involving fentanyl and powder cocaine increased again last year. Drug cases overall made up 29.9 percent of the federal criminal caseload, the second-largest category after immigration-related offenses.
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