[joesmo]

A lot of theft, burglary, robbery, assault, murder, etc. would simply not exist or be marginalized just like they are currently for alcohol. It's been awhile since I heard of a shootout over booze distribution. Yes, there is still a black market for alcohol, but the crime surrounding it is a tiny fraction of what it was during prohibition. No one denies that violence related to alcohol dropped dramatically after prohibition and obviously, the same thing will happen to other drugs as they're not special.

[0x49]

The crime dropped after prohibition because the FBI became a bigger part of preventing crime and rooted out all of the police corruption. Violence in Mexico will continue, unless the government can prevent any cop, judge, or agent from being bought.

Drugs arent special as you say, but they also arent the cause of the violence. Gangs will still be violent and kill each other. It will just be over something new. So yes, we might see a decrease in drug-related violence (im still not convinced of this though), but we will see an increase in violence related to something else being traded on the black market.

I also have a hard time seeing crack or meth being legalized when many people still sue the cigarette companies for giving them cancer. I think tort reform is also needed.