This ends up making the situation worse. Legalization substantially increases demand far beyond what can be produced legally and ironically the value actually g

This ends up making the situation worse. Legalization substantially increases demand far beyond what can be produced legally and ironically the value actually goes up and results in even more of the illegal product being produced. Furthermore it now becomes very difficult to distinguish between the legal and illegal product, providing criminals with an easy cover to launder the product. https://www.nber.org/papers/w22314 https://www.nber.org/papers/w22314 Statistics Canada has reported that after the legalization of weed, the black market has actually grown quite substantially (in absolute terms). https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/research-data/canadian-cannabis-survey-2021-summary.html https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medica... At any rate, the point is that making things legal or available can often paradoxically significantly increase demand for the illegal product and in the process make it much easier for the black market to operate. And just to add in some controversy to the discussion, the same is true of prostitution. Almost all places that have legalized prostitution also have significantly higher rates of human trafficking including underage prostitutes.