[shetlan]

Originally Posted by archleone

Legalization would remedy part of the high cost. If a pack of cigs costs $5 and there is 20g of tobacco in a pack(I googled weight of cigs, dunno if its accurate) then it is a $.25 a g and its even cheaper for loose leaf rolling tobacco something like $.09 a g compared to pot which is something like $7-8 a g for cheap shit or as much as $15 a g for pretty good stuff(this in the midwest, near the mexico border it can be like $3 a g), even if there is massive taxation I can't imagine it coming anywhere near the current prices of pot.

You're forgetting the new restrictions on growing, quality control standards, packaging requirements, and other such things that the FDA will require of marijuana growers - all of which cause drastic price increases. Then there's the increased cost of labor in the US, work place safety standards, and such.

None of the cartels would participate in a legalized market - they would continue to illegally import marijuana just as people illegally import cigarettes now.

Originally Posted by archleone

As I said near the mexico border it is extremely cheap, I have heard that it is as cheap as $50 for a lb in mexico that is $.11 a g, almost as cheap as loose leaf tobacco in US but this is before all of smuggling across borders and the prices going up as it changes hands numerous time which is what causes the high prices.

The prices are high both because it's illegal (anything illegal carries a heavy price) and because it goes through a distribution network.

None the less, even if it where legalized it would go from the grower, to the processing plant, to the packaging center, to the branded company, to the wholesaler, to the retailer, to the customer.

Don't forget, consumer goods go through a distribution network to.
Each of these changes of hands takes a price increase as well.

Originally Posted by archleone

So if it was legalized the prices would drop drastically reducing the enormous amounts that the drug cartels make off it and while there might still be a black market to get it cheaper it would not be nearly as large.

The cartels would still make a decent living on marijuana - and almost entirely in the same way. They wouldn't bother complying with the new FDA regulations - which means they would need to smuggle thier's into the country. Since it doesn't have a "tax stamp", it would still be illegal. Their profits wouldn't be as high, but it wouldn't change the drug trade.