A state legislature in California is proposing a new law to tax and regulate the use of marijuana in the state.  According to the LA Times, the value of the marijuana trade in California is estimated at $14 billion.  If the marijuana is taxed like an industry, the state could generate up to $1 billion in revenue. 

Source:  Eric Baliley, “Taxing pot could become political toking point,” LA Times, February 24, 2009. 

Europol seized 500,000 counterfeit euros and arrested nearly 400 people for counterfeiting in 2008.  20 illegal printing centers were also dismantled during the year.

If the 500,000 counterfeit euros were sold on the black market, Europol estimates that it would have generated a profit of 34 million euros.

Source: Europol, “Law Enforcement Agencies seized 500,000 euro counterfeits in 2008,” Press Release, January 12, 2009.

The Indonesia office of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is stating that the country lost $550 million in revenue to software piracy in 2008.  This figure is a 33 percent increase from the estimated $411 million in losses to piracy in 2007. 

The BSA is forecasting that Indonesia will lose up to $600 million in 2009. 

Source: “Piracy costs software industry US$500m,” Jakarta Post, February 25, 2009. 

48 suspected prostitutes were found in the United States by the FBI in a nationwide sweep of the illegal sex trade.  The teenagers were between the ages of 13 and 17.  In total, over 571 people were arrested on various prostitution related charges. 

Although the FBI normally does not involve itself in crackdowns of prostitution, the bureau has been increasing its involvement due to the high level of children being found to be involved in prostitution. 

Read the article, “FBI, police rescue child prostitutes around US,” from Google News here. 

Source: Canadian Council for Tobacco Control, “Giant Banner on Parliament Hill Urges President Obama to Stop Cigarette Smuggling from the U.S. to Canada,” Press Release, February 19, 2009. 

10 unlicensed and illegal cigarette factories in the United States are responsible for about 90 percent of smuggled cigarettes in Canada, according to the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control. 

Source: Canadian Council for Tobacco Control, “Giant Banner on Parliament Hill Urges President Obama to Stop Cigarette Smuggling from the U.S. to Canada,” Press Release, February 19, 2009. 

The marijuana trade represents between 1.5 and 4.6 percent of the GDP of Canada’s British Columbia province. 

Source: AFP, “Gang violence rattles2010 Olympic city,” Google News, February 22, 2009. 

Law enforcement officials in Brazil have begun targeting well-educated and financially secure teenagers and young adults in their crackdown on the popular club drug ecstasy.  According to a report in the New York Times, more and more young people are being arrested and charged for the trafficking of ecstasy.  In 2007, police seized 211,000 ecstasy pills, 17 times more than the year before.  In 2008, 132,621 pills were seized in the country.  

Read the article “Ecstasy Ensnares Upper-Class Teenagers in Brazil” at the New York Times here.

The police chief in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez resigned on Friday after a threatening note from outlaw gangs.  The gangs threaten chief Roberto Orduna that they will continue to kill members of his police force if he did not resign immediately.  Earlier in the day, police found a dead police guard and a jail guards with signs on their bodies referring to the gangs demands.  The gang was telling the chief that they would kill at least one law enforcement official every 48 hours until he resigned. 

Source: AP, “Mexican city police chief resigns amidst threats,” Yahoo News, February 20, 2009.

According to the IFPI, more than half of all movies, music, and software sold in Lebanon are pirated.  The high rate of counterfeiting occurring within the country is preventing Lebanon from joining the World Trade Organization.  

Source: AFP, “Piracy sinking Lebanon cinema, music, cable industry,” Google News, February 20, 2009.