[mgbmtl]

Why give a monopoly on drugs to the black market? Drugs are a public health safety issue. They should be sold by the state, in a controlled way. Sure, black market will continue to exist, but they won't have a monopoly, and we will have more tools to help people consume in a responsible way.

Lots of places in the world ban advertising, control the packaging marketing, control the display of cigarettes in stores, control where you can smoke in public, etc etc. Alcohol is also heavily regulated.

Heck, in Canada, the purchasing and distribution of wine is mostly done by the state. Then, depending on the province, it might be sold by a private or state store, but it's always very regulated. I'm sure heroin producers would have much less options if their only client was the state. (btw: same for medecine, usually purchased by the provincial governments, then sold to pharmacies, hence lower prices)