What would happen if Crystal Meth was legal?

[oldernwiser]

24. What would happen if there were no illegal drugs?

Let's see...

Most of Central America would immediately collapse financially due to their reliance on the current sale and distribution, but businesses would have a more favorable worker base to exploit.

The US gun shops - particularly those close to the border with Mexico - would close and those owners would be out of work.

The cartels from South America to Texas would need to find other employment or other reasons to kill their own people.

Pacific coast Canadians would have to get real jobs.

California would immediately file for bankruptcy.

City gangs would cease to exist.

Wackenhut and other privatized corrections companies would fail, and their shiny new prisons would close.

Fewer telemarketers calling from the above prisons.

Local police around the country would have the extra time and manpower they needed to solve criminal cases (and chase speeders).

Federal DEA agents could be re-deployed as Immigration agents and could actually put a serious dent in human smuggling.

The US government would benefit from a huge cash windfall plus the subsequent taxation of the newly regulated commodities would make it possible to educate people about the abuse of drugs and provide real treatment centers as needed.

Court dockets at both the local and federal levels would be immediately cleared.

Fewer inmates in local, state, and federal prisons. (Joe Arpaio's tent city prison would have to go as well.)

Apart from that, almost nothing would change. Anyone who wants access to drugs has it already. I don't see legalization changing usage statistics. In fact, it might be a good opportunity to convince kids from 12 to 20 that drugs might not be a good choice in their lives the way we do with tobacco at least.

Personally, I think it's MY choice whether I partake in the usage of a drug or not. Current drug laws don't make us want it any less, they just make us more careful in how we come by it.