I don’t think it would.
Legalizing drugs would come at the cost of governments and cities taxing it and putting it above what price is on the street for cartel product. The cartels can easily undercut on price because they don’t pay any taxes.
Legalizing drugs would come at the cost of governments and cities taxing it and putting it above what price is on the street for cartel product. The cartels can easily undercut on price because they don’t pay any taxes.
There's also the fact that buyers ALSO care about the risk. Many people will only purchase drugs legally, if given both options.
It doesn't come with any consumer protections
I think the happy medium is legalization + a decriminalized framework
Many methods fail because the legalization-only path just creates a parallel criminal path
People are happy to pay a 28%+ tax here in CO for legalized, recreational marijuana - a relatively expensive-to-produce product.
Slightly more seriously, obviously people will continue to smuggle if there's a profit to be made, but a lot of consumers and producers will quite willingly switch to legal options if they can. Jail time is pretty expensive too.