I agree that the prohibition has created the massively profitable illegal drug trade. However, if the US were to simply legalize everything tomorrow, the violence would NOT stop. Everything would have to be legal EVERYWHERE or the cartels would simply use the US as they have been using Afghanistan and Columbia and other nations for years - as a source of supply for the raw materials with which to continue production of their product. Is that a role we want to take on in the civilized world ? Also, what would cause the cartels to stop using violence to protect their sources of supply?

Secondly, do we really want to legalize Fentanyl or Oxycontin or Bath Salts or any of the very potent new synthetic hallucinogens that are out there for recreational use ? We are losing 30,000 people a year to opiate overdoses now when there are strong legal and social restraints on their use. Is it reasonable to conclude that eliminating those restraints will result in significant REDUCTION of drug use?