[xelipe]

Legalizing drugs by itself does not imply that the price of drugs will fall and that the violence will end. Lest not forget that, in Latin American, revolutions have been fought because of the impact of the exploitation of the people and land for the cultivation of commodity products such as bananas (see Banana Wars in Wikipedia) and for which gangs like La Mara are a consequence. Drugs for personal use are legal in Mexico, so the violence itself is not related to the criminalization of drugs, it's related to the profit of drugs. And legalizing drugs only strengthens the cartels grip on that profit (see OPEC).

The one key aspect that I often find that is missing from the intellectual reasoning of the drug cartel violence in Mexico is that most Americans don't understand that narco culture that exists in Northern Mexico. For over 30 or 40 years, there has developed a narco culture in Mexico where songs and movies have been influenced by the trade (see Chalino_Sánchez). Basically, Chalino_Sánchez was like the Mexican Jay-Z except he didn't sell out and was gunned down by an unknown assailant.

[Yxven]

"And legalizing drugs only strengthens the cartels grip on that profit (see OPEC)." OPEC is powerful because they are an oligopoly. The current drug situation is an oligopoly because there are a limited number of people willing to risk their life and liberty to produce and sell drugs. By legalizing the production of drugs in the US, you allow honest US citizens to compete with far less risk. This will break the drug cartel's oligopoly. Whether they maintain their power depends on their ability to compete in a fairer market.

[kitsune_]

Is coca that different from tomatoes? I mean, is it, all things considered, harder to produce cocaine than ketchup? If fully legalized, shouldn't the price of cocaine be similar to ketchup?

The reason that cocaine is as expensive as it is, stems from its illegality.

And subsequently, the only reason that the cartels were able to grow to such monstrous proportions is the amount of money that can be made with the production and distribution of illegal drugs. Remove the money and you'll remove their power.

[justincormack]

Coffee is a better comparison than ketchup. Tomatoes grow more widely.

[r0s]

> Drugs for personal use are legal in Mexico, so the violence itself is not related to the criminalization of drugs

That's a recent development, plenty of violence before that desperate measure.

The entire supply chain needs to be legalized before the violence will end. Killing will stop, former murderers will be caught, and the American drug use rates will stay as steady and unaffected as ever.