[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by AutoBike

I was a big fan of The Wire, too. The message I got from it was "set up drug enforcement-free zones and crime goes DOWN."
Drugs, like alcohol during prohibition, have a greatly inflated price because of the risk associated with trafficking them. Take the risk out and the cartels lose $100Billions worth of value overnight. They wouldn't be able to afford the cost to keep their armies of dealers and enforcers as well as pay off local and national politicians.
The ripple effect in the US would be staggering. Reduced policing costs, prisons, courts, etc. The elimination of the DEA alone would save taxpayers $2.36Billion/year, according to their 2012FY budget.
1/4 of the 2million Americans in jails and prisons are there for drug offenses. That's 500,000 people that we are paying up to $50k/year to incarcerate.

The bottom line is: Thanks to tough US Drug Laws, there's lots of money to be made in illegal drugs. And when you're living in the ghetto with no way out, legally, selling drugs is often the only way out in their minds.

I don't think that would work. There is this little issue of addiction to Heroin.