Good news: US efforts to crack down on prescription painkiller abuse are apparently having an effect in choking off supply.
Bad news: Add the two together, and you get the Mexican drug cartels shifting to growing opium and flooding the US with cheap heroin.
Somewhat good news: Opium poppies are a lot easier to spot from the air.
Somewhat bad news: It's a lot easier to smuggle heroin than pot.
On the other hand, it's not clear to me that the US demand for heroin is anywhere near that for pot, so some of the most pernicious effects of illegal marijuana — widespread arrests and incarceration for a relatively innocuous drug — seem likely to go away over time.
I have no problem with trying to keep heroin under control.
Marijuana growers in Mexico are switching to producing heroin poppies as pot prices drop in the U.S.
Marijuana growers in Mexico are switching to poppies as pot prices decline.