Political corruption can't exist in an environment of freedom and limited government. If, for example, anybody can run their own casino, then there is no benefit to bribing a zoning official or a legislator.
Who would the cartels extort and why would anybody pay? If kidnapping for ransom was profitable, they would be doing it and are doing it in some locales.
Would you really want to be a criminal enterprise competing directly with Walmart?
I don't know the details of the situation in Colorado, but I do know that pot literally grows on trees. If the law allows people to grow their own without withering taxes, the price will plummet as soon as the first crop is in.