5 ms·

The difference is that prices would be driven down. The reason the drug cartels make obscene amounts of money is that they operate a monopoly, which they defend

by mixmax 17y ago

The difference is that prices would be driven down. The reason the drug cartels make obscene amounts of money is that they operate a monopoly, which they defend with violence and killings. If the market became legalized other players would enter the market until the profits were driven down to normal levels. And a gram of coke would cost you $1 on the street.

njharman 17y ago
There's little reason to suppose that with legalization the cartels will suddenly stop using bribes, violence and killings to maintain their monopoly. They would be reduced, not crippled. They would move onto whatever was in demand but still illegal, harder drugs, guns, slaves. Nobody with millions and millions of dollars at stake goes down without a fight.
- dejb 17y ago
  Yes but the difference is their supply of money would be greatly diminished which would reduce their capacity for action. There is no reason to think that profits from 'guns and slaves' would increase. If anything they would decrease. Harder drugs? Than Heroin?
- uriel 17y ago
  > There's little reason to suppose that with legalization the cartels will suddenly stop using bribes, violence and killings to maintain their monopoly. All of which are illegal, and as such mean extra costs, which would put them at disadvantage with legal competitor. I'm not sure, but I don't think many of the mafia gangs that ran the alcohol business survived the end of prohibition very well, the alcohol industry has been run as a normal business ever since.
  - anamax 17y ago
    > I'm not sure, but I don't think many of the mafia gangs that ran the alcohol business survived the end of prohibition very well, the alcohol industry has been run as a normal business ever since. That's true of large-scale criminal enterprise, but small-scale moonshine continued until the cost of raw materials started to approach the cost of the cheapest hard liquor in stores. Post-prohibition moonshine runs is where/why NASCAR came from.
- netsp 17y ago
  >They would move onto whatever was in demand but still illegal, harder drugs, guns, slaves. I hear this argument a lot and it doesn't make any sense. I'm sure individual would try. But you don't get such a big industry just because of unemployed gangsters. The drug market is massive. It exists as a response to demand. A demand for guns slaves etc. doesn't just materialise.

by mixmax 17y ago

njharman 17y ago

There's little reason to suppose that with legalization the cartels will suddenly stop using bribes, violence and killings to maintain their monopoly. They would be reduced, not crippled. They would move onto whatever was in demand but still illegal, harder drugs, guns, slaves. Nobody with millions and millions of dollars at stake goes down without a fight.

dejb 17y ago
Yes but the difference is their supply of money would be greatly diminished which would reduce their capacity for action. There is no reason to think that profits from 'guns and slaves' would increase. If anything they would decrease. Harder drugs? Than Heroin?
uriel 17y ago
> There's little reason to suppose that with legalization the cartels will suddenly stop using bribes, violence and killings to maintain their monopoly. All of which are illegal, and as such mean extra costs, which would put them at disadvantage with legal competitor. I'm not sure, but I don't think many of the mafia gangs that ran the alcohol business survived the end of prohibition very well, the alcohol industry has been run as a normal business ever since.
- anamax 17y ago
  > I'm not sure, but I don't think many of the mafia gangs that ran the alcohol business survived the end of prohibition very well, the alcohol industry has been run as a normal business ever since. That's true of large-scale criminal enterprise, but small-scale moonshine continued until the cost of raw materials started to approach the cost of the cheapest hard liquor in stores. Post-prohibition moonshine runs is where/why NASCAR came from.
netsp 17y ago
>They would move onto whatever was in demand but still illegal, harder drugs, guns, slaves. I hear this argument a lot and it doesn't make any sense. I'm sure individual would try. But you don't get such a big industry just because of unemployed gangsters. The drug market is massive. It exists as a response to demand. A demand for guns slaves etc. doesn't just materialise.