I was talking to my parents who were upset about some South American drug dealers getting arrested on our street. I told them they were just supplying the market and making a living, but they said beside that, they bring riff-raff into our nice neighborhood. They said if drugs were legalized, that wouldn’t be a problem. But that got me thinking, if drugs were legalized, and taxed, would people still sell them illegally and under the table. I thought yes but they brought up the point that nobody goes around selling alcohol illegally. Any thought on what will happen to the illegal drug market if the said drugs being sold illegally are legalized?
Theyre better off illegal. They would be more expensive if they were legal.
But my question is, if they were legalized, do you think a large illegal drug market would still exist…?
Plenty of people brew their own alcohol and sell it, I guess that is the closest you can get to selling it illegally.
Yes, you would more than likely have small black markets still in operation for price concerns. But the vast majority of people prefer to shop at a store, or somewhere they can trust, rather than some dude in a hoody on a corner.
I don’t think so. The only reason why the drug cartels are even here is because it is illegal, the competition would put them out.
If the gummint taxes the drugs 1%, you’ll see all the problems go away. If they tax it at 300%, then we might still see some crap.
Sure, there would be some. I mean, moonshine does still exist, after all. But I know I’d rather go to a well-lit 7-11 and buy a product with a brand name, so I could be assured of the purity, flavor, potency, etc.
@Gipper: You think they would be more expensive? You forget the price of drugs are inflated because it is an illegal market. Since there is more risk from law enforcement, the price goes way up. Marijuana is just as easy to grow as many herbs. Herbs don’t cost over 200-400 dollars an ounce, but down to 5 dollars an ounce. Marijuana does.
Example:
Damiana 10 dollars for an ounce: http://www.findherb.com/damiana-herb.html
Marijuana prices: http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr4/4Price.html
@ Op: There wouldn’t be individual legal dealers, if (insert your drug here) was legal, a company would be able to beat individual dealers in the market, and people would just buy from there. The existing drug market would be demolished by a new drug market. How could small time dealers compete with the efficiency of a factory?
The drug market would certainly get ‘classier’ if that makes sense. People would feel freer to open up stores and would have more time to think of better ways and devices. Not to mention that, since we aren’t in an anarcho-capitalist society right now, the drugs would be regulated by the government like cigarettes and alcohol.
Just look at the way bars work, and how cigars are sold at convenience stores. I doubt a single individual can compete with that.
I’m in total agreement with Libertyandlife.
Depends at what rate would they be taxed. Cigarette smuggling is a big bussines in certain parts of the world.
i have thought on this as well
i think that if drugs were legal then people, if the taxes were sky high, would just ignor them all together. the people willing to sell drugs allready do it, so they don’t seem to be detered from the market of drugs by threat of prison. but if the trade became legal then it may become easyer to get the drugs and this may make people enjoy them more. they wouldn’t have to sneak around and that kind of stuff. and i do think that people still sell alcohol tax free it’s just not that big a deal because it’s mostly mountain people doing it.