Marijuana is grown and traded by criminals because it was declared, by fiat, to be illegal. If it were not illegal, it could be grown and traded by legitimate people who have a vested interest in quality control.
yep one of the best point of drug legalization...this and the removal of gang/black market violence...
Just as one of the worst aspects of alcohol prohibition was gang and black market violence, the same is one of the worst aspects of drug prohibition as well. In and of themselves, drugs are harmful---some more than others, of course, but their perniciousness is magnified a hundredfold by ensuring only criminals produce and sell them.
This is one of the main reasons I can't comprehend those who oppose decriminalizing marijuana. In and of itself, marijuana is not terribly harmful---certainly less harmful than many other legal substances. The major reason marijuana is harmful is because it is linked with crime and the illegal drug trade. Its dangerousness, in and of itself, is minimal. Contrast this to cocaine, meth, or heroin---other popular illegal drugs whose dangerousness, in and of itself, is significant. Certainly the state could make a case for controlling these substances because of their inherent danger wholly aside from their association with the illegal drug trade. You'll notice few, if indeed any, organizations exist to promote the reform of cocaine, meth, or heroin laws . . .