Anyone fool enough to think that legalization would have any effect at all on the cartels needs to have a look at how the mafia completely disappeared after the end of Prohibition. Ahem.

I would point out that the several mafias (there are several) in Italy are going strong, maybe as strong as they ever were.

The warning about civil war is sadly not off-target. Almost all of the northern state and city governments, as well as the federal cops and army, are either completely owned by the cartels or thoroughly infiltrated by them.

Fnarf, the mafia didn't completely disappear after prohibition of course, but crime and violence directly related to illegal alcohol sales dropped dramatically.

The cartels wouldn't be nearly so powerful and influential if they weren't making so much money from illegal drug sales. If you legalize it and take away that profit, then you greatly reduce their power. They wouldn't disappear like magic, of course, but there would be a lot less of them.

What @ 3 said

Prohibition handed existing organized-crime gangs a jetpack. Repeal cut into their strength and revenue, which turned several towards narcotics trafficking—which we can now eliminate if we choose.

All illegal desires will produce a black market, but the more you legalize and control the market, the less violence and chaos you will have. Kidnapping and protection rackets will continue, of course, but they are much more localized and much easier to control than a trans-national shipping network where guns and bombs, instead of courts, are the means of settling disputes and fighting over market share.

Your evidence, Mr. Mehlman?

... and I should add that being "strung-out" is a consequence of scarcity, which is a consequence of the drug war. If the addict can satisfy the cellular and metabolic "need" (as Burroughs put it), she can free herself of the time- and life-consuming cycle of scoring and falling into withdrawal.

Nobody enjoys this cycle—addicts only want product and would love to jettison all the crippling side-effects of their need.

Make the drugs safe and available (and monitored) and the cycle becomes no more debilitating than it does for chronic users of nicotine or alcohol. Some will abuse, some won't, but people won't be gunning each other down in the streets over the stuff.

@9: Yeah, it's much better to just lock up as many junkies, & non-addicted, non-violent drug "offenders" as possible w/ little to no treatment. That seems to be working out swell.

I think we should not only legalize it but make sure we make it available to our children starting in preschool. And that would include all narcotics. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

A stoned 6 year old is a quiet 6 year old!!

@3, people who have no compunction about shooting 14-year-old girls or cutting people's heads off will hardly give up the drug trade just because it's legal. The criminals will still be in charge. You will still be buying your drugs from them.

Argh, clicked too soon. It is a mistake to think that the mafia is predominantly in the business of vice. Many of the most successful mafia people in the US resisted entering the drug trade for forty years after Prohibition ended. The biggest businesses of the mafia? Construction, real estate, and sanitation. Not drugs.

You can't stuff the genie back in the bottle.

So the guy who owns a private security firm that stands to make hundreds of millions thinks the only solution is hiring private security firms and preparing for full scale border war? What a surprise.

And correct me if I'm wrong, Fnarf, but wasn't Capone jailed for tax evasion? So conceivably even if they can continue to make money in legitimate businesses, organized criminals are much more likely to get shut down if they are forced to start moving their money around through visible channels.

Of course, one wonders how much of today's legitimate corporate power is in the hands of families that first made their money through other less legal means, but that's a story for a different day.

Yeah Fnarf, and there are so many drive-by shootings at construction yards and sanitation depots, it's unreal. THE VIOLENCE HAS GOT TO STOP!!

Oh wait...

@17 I agree.

Nail guns should be kept out of the hands of children.

Those things are lethal.

@14: Are you saying that the illegal drugs would still be widespread, or that the outlaws would move into legal supply?

If the former, that's pretty ridiculous. Moonshine is a niche market for a reason. The vast majority of people like their beer and liquor to taste the same every time, be the same strength, and not poison them.

And the latter? I'm not convinced. Producing quality pot takes the same kind of personality that makes craft beers. I think in every society there's a certain percentage of outlaw types that are drawn to making a quick buck in a ruthless and dangerous manner, and I don't think these people have the patience for dealing with the FDA.

Oh, and that annoying argument about the inevitable increase in consumption. I don't smoke weed or pop pills, but if I could legally and safely, maybe I would occasionally. To me that's an argument FOR legalisation :p