The Black Market: The Legalization Of Drugs

Due to the illegalization there is a black market for marijuana, which is controlled by an organized crime ring. Such markets don´t exist because of drugs but because drugs are illegal. One of the biggest issues inherent in black markets is violence. Because these markets are unregulated, participants can´t rely on consumer protection or legitimate police protection in the event of theft or other crimes. Therefore, black markets are lawless or rather live by their own rules. Most of the time this results in assaults. Furthermore, black markets are sometimes used to fund terrorism since the profits can´t be traced easily. Additionally, participants of black markets don´t pay taxes and therefore a heavier tax burden falls on law-abiding citizens. Moreover, the criminals, who are selling drugs on black markets, are not interested in the quality or safety of their goods. Therefore, it can be very dangerous to consume drugs that were acquired there. The legalization of drugs would enable governmental quality control and thereby protect consumers. To sum up, …show more content…
For example, the results of a study indicated that legalization would lead to approximately a 4% increase in marijuana consumption, while beer, wine and spirits consumption would fall by 1%, 2% and almost 4%, respectively (Clements). This shows that although the use of marijuana would go up through the legalization of the drug, the use of other drugs such as alcohol would go down. There are approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States. This makes excessive alcohol use the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation. Although the statistics of the decrease in alcohol consumption through the legalization of marijuana is just estimation, having a decrease in alcohol consumption at any degree would be a positive outcome of the legalization of