Stop making invalid comparisons. You only look stupid doing so.
Substances which are dangerously mind- and behavior-altering are not even in the same universe as certain food items.
Regardless, my original post only posits that if you makes something legal that was previous illegal with high consequences as a cost, more people will indulge in it, not fewer as some brain-dead libertarians like to claim. That’s just basic economics. You lower the cost of an item, more is sold.
And yes, there will always be an illegitimate market for it. It doesn’t solve that problem.
It doesn’t work like that in real life.
In one study of more than 30 major U.S. cities during the Prohibition years of 1920 and 1921, the number of crimes increased by 24%. Additionally, theft and burglaries increased by 9%, homicides by 13%, assaults and battery rose by 13%, drug addiction by 45%, and police department costs rose by 11.4%. This was largely the result of "black-market violence" and the diversion of law enforcement resources elsewhere. Despite the Prohibition movement's hope that outlawing alcohol would reduce crime, the reality was that the Volstead Act led to higher crime rates than were experienced prior to Prohibition and the establishment of a black market dominated by criminal organizations.
https://archive.org/details/risefallofprohib00town/page/n7/mode/2up
Then a funny thing happened…crime declined.
Stop making invalid comparisons. You only look stupid doing so.
The data on the negative impact of alcohol is right there. I could do the same for the other vices listed. indeed, we have ample evidence of their destructive natures.
And yet, they remain available for anyone.
We could add pornography and other vices to that pile of Bad Things society permits.
The comparison is only invalid if the accuser is deploying a subjective/cherry-picking methodology.
The truth here, is drug criminalization has as much to do with saving lives as the prosecution of Trump has to do with upholding the law. In both cases, it’s about having power over others.