In reply to the external blog from rawstory:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/the-war-on-drugs-killed-my-daughter/
Although I can see how hurt the people affected can be because they have dead loved ones from drug use, because they do not know what they are taking (purity, method of making etc. can all change a drug safety) but I do not agree the legalization of drugs is the answer. The drug war has created some undesirable consequences such as the ever growing black market, but is it all black and white?
Black markets create trillions in dollars of revenue around the world and by some rough estimation half of the workers are a part of this black market. Majority of these people are not who we imagine them to be; they can be the truck drivers who smuggle it out, child workers in different areas of the world, our neighbours and even illegial dentists.
In the real legal economy job prospects are low, and many people were laid off after the 2008 recession and have turned to under the table jobs to make a living. If the legalization of drugs was to happen the truck drivers would no longer needed to smuggle and street vendors would out of buisness. In a way the black market has provided an income, oppourtunities and job prospects those who need it. Without this market availiable more people would need government funding, spending would be cut and shops will be closed effectively cutting off more workers. The economy has come to a point where the black market is large enough that it might be the second largest economy after America and we have all experienced what happened in 2008.
What would happen if drugs were legalized and the black market shrinks?