Sorry, Sandy. Making drugs legal will NOT "make dope peddlers go away." There are numerous instances where drugs ARE legal and YET "organized crime" comes into play.
Examples, please. The following situations do not support your thesis.
Tobacco. While it IS legal to smoke in places like Canada and Alaska, police are shot, and killed every day by cigarette smugglers who undersell legitimate tobacco merchants.
Please define, "legitimate tobacco merchants." Define "smuggler." From what you have stated, it would appear that the police who were shot were initiating force against the free market tobacco merchants and were shot in self-defense.
Oxycontin. Yes, it is LEGAL to get Oxycontin with a valid prescription, but because of the dangerous side effects of the drug, (euphoria, chemical dependence, possible nerve deafness, etc.) it has to be dispensed with utmost care.
Gee, I thought euphoria was a benefit, not a "dangerous side effect."

I live in Panama and I have lived in Costa Rica. Most drugs that require a prescription in the US are available over the counter in these countries. A friend of mine who was a medical practitioner in the US visited me in CR. We went into a pharmacy to get something and her jaw dropped when she saw what you buy without a prescription. "That will stop your heart!" she said as she point to one OTC medication, "and that one can induce seizures!" My response was, "And yet the streets are not filled with the bodies of the dead."
In general, Latin culture believes in personal responsibility. People damned well know they had better educate themselves before they go self-dosing. I was on a prescription medication in the US, but now buy it OTC in Panama. It
can cause seizures if taken in excess, so I have titrated my dosage accordingly. Prescriptions are a form of initiation of force, because people are legally forbidden, with threat of fines, arrest, prison and death. There are no prescriptions in an anarchy.
Many "back alley" merchants don't CARE about the side effects and CRUSH the pills either to concentrate the "high" of the narcotic effect OR to distribute the drug to people WITHOUT prescriptions for profit. These folks tend to shoot at cops, "clients," each other, and generally anyone whom they (in their paranoid drug dealer way) think MIGHT be a threat to their "profits."
Like pharmacists
don't sell their drugs for profit? Whom you buy from in an anarchy is
your choice not some government's. Personally, when I was given illegal drugs in the US, I verified the source. If I didn't and got a bad dose, well,
caveat emptor.And I happen to know this is true first hand because I work in a pharmacy and recently someone with a valid prescription tried to con our store and the police into getting a replacement "fill" because his script was "misplaced." (Turns out, after review of the security footage, the one who wanted a refill had "pocketed the pills" and hidden his prescription bag on the store shelves to make it look like he never got it.)
When people will initiate force against sellers of a commodity, those that want it will not accept the orders of the thugs and will find a way. Good for your would-be customer. I wish more people were willing to resist tyranny.
And for those who say "making drugs legal makes them 'safe.'"
I don't say that; I don't think they are safe now. Fen-phen anyone?

It should be pointed out that according to the history books I've read, Bert and Ernie's situation is the reason for the Town Sheriff being created as an entity seeing as the US Army couldn't effectively patrol the entirety of the "Wild West." (Hence the name.)
In an anarchy, everyone
is the sheriff
and the army. By the way, the West wasn't all that wild. Violent crime rates were lower than in the East. I prefer the non-judgmental term, "Old West."
Now as everybody may recall, yesterday I said I would send trolls back to justify the facts and reasoning in their scenarios. Yet I have taken a good deal of time responding to Azure Priest. The reason? He is not a troll. It is clear he is speaking from personal experience and believes what he has written. It is clear he and I do not agree on the issue of drug prohibition. So be it; reasonable minds may differ. I respect Azure Priest because what he brings to the table is consideration, facts and reasoning. Trolls take note. This is how civilized discourse works,