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When drugs are legalized, who is going to sell them, and more importantly, who is going to pay for them? I only ask because I have seen it mentioned on this thread that once legalized, drug dealers would be out of business (although I don't know why, after all, they're not selling a controlled substance anymore), the incentive to import would be gone (okay, are we going to begin growing our own?), and gangs would have the plug pulled on their funding (or they would just steal the now legal narcotics, and sell them at a deep discount on the street).
A nice chunk of the crime related to drugs involves desperate junkies needing their next fix. People who sell everything they own, then resort to theft, prostitution, and whatever else to support their habit. Are these people to receive their drugs for free?

re: When drugs are legalized, who is going to sell them, and more importantly, who is going to pay for them?)))

This is where the tire hits the pavement, and what I've always wondered. When I ask a 'tarian "Just how are these recreational drugs going to be manufactured, distributed, and sold?" I get some "principled" fairytale about how the gov ought to get out of everything, like that's going to happen, but I know that this would be a lawsuit/liabiliity nightmare that would choke the courts.

I'd say, let the pothead 'tarians get the capital together to open up their chain of MJ stores.

Regarding people resorting to prostitution/theft/other crime to support their habits, don't you think this would be greatly reduced if they didn't have to pay inflated black-market prices? The incentive for dealers is money. Why buy a product on the street when it can be purchased in a store (generally speaking)? If it's at a huge discount, fantastic! Let these drug-addled bums buy if for pennies on the dollar so they don't break into my house and get shot trying to steal my possessions! Better yet, they don't stab me or kill someone I care about trying to get the money to pay for another day. Have them go to a drug store (not a general type store) where there are armed guards all over the place!

Imagine two heroin addicts with the same habit (use quantity). One is an ordinary Joe, the other a famous actor. As the cost of heroin goes up, due to greater enforcement (e.g. tax dollars spent), the two junkies spend more. More enforcement, greater risk/liability of the dealer, higher premium on the product.

Now, the cost has crossed the point where the "ordinary" Joe (minus that heroin addiction, of course) can no longer afford it, and probably doesn't really get it from a consistent source anyway. So, he ends up stealing a bit, trading for heroin. Maybe pawns some jewelry. Then, his habit gets worse, more expensive and he's getting to the point of robbing (the "ordinary Jane" might have been hooking by now). Now, you've got a junkie, who can't support a habit/addiction, trying to find money to pay inflated prices for unsafe/unregulated black market product, most likely helping spread HIV, HEP-C, etc.

The actor hasn't had any trouble with cost/product and hasn't resorted to crime to continue his habit. This hypothetical is really only on the consumer side anyway, nevermind what happens on the dealer/supply side where the serious violence occurrs over mega-bucks. These billions of dollars are partly to blame for our illegal immigration problem, considering who is in control of the money and the corruption that follows.