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Comment by 3131s | Hacker News Reader

As someone who is from the US but lives in a poor country, it's hard to imagine what it would be like to take the already dire situations of place like this and then add in 2-3x the drug trafficking violence compared to the US.

Legalizing most recreational drugs around the world is absolutely imperative! If it is not done sooner than later then the largest drug trafficking organizations will be so entrenched that it may become impossible.

Many lives would be saved if these drugs could be purchased in consistent doses with standardized labeling and packaging.

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Legalizing recreational drugs may help, but it won't solve the problem; hard drugs are still a thing, the cocaine trade is booming (read an article that the amount of cocaine intercepted in the Rotterdam port has gone up 10x in the past three years, and that's just the stuff they catch; wouldn't be surprised if that represents only 10% of what comes in. The article mentioned that the interception doesn't seem to have any effect on the 'street price').

If for example the US manages to somehow curb the drug crisis, they'll find other buyers easily. Or switch to other products in demand, like insulin.

One rarely discussed effect of drug legalization is that pharmaceutical companies would start developing recreational drugs. I expect they would create milder versions of current drugs specifically for the recreational market. That market would almost certainly be huge. Because of this, Big Pharma ought to be one of the biggest proponents of drug legalization. Whether the net effect on society would be positive or negative I do not know.

Wait, insulin is in demand in a way comparable to illicit drugs? Can't it easily be accessed through prescription?

In US, big pharma realized that they can increase their profits a lot by increasing the price of insulin as the patients don;t have much option here. So, insulin is ridiculously expensive, and those on insurance can't afford spare doses in case they break one.

So, with demand, comes supply. Since pharmaceutical companies were the ones who raised prices and used patents laws to curb any legal competition, only illegal competition remains.

a diabetic training partner of mine told me that black market for the insulin is ridiculously developed

I was referring to hard drugs! Legalize cocaine, duh!

If the drugs become legal who do you think will be making and distributing them in the US? The same cartels and criminal organizations who traffic drugs today.

The end users will have a different experience but selling and trafficking drugs will remain illegal.

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