Thats basically what happened in legal states. It became legal and illicit trade lost a lot of its profit margin. Money is what makes the illegal market function. If the legal market is competitive then they can operate legally. I even watched a podcast by a kingpin that was getting big just as Washington was legalizing. He said the only money in it then was transporting it to states where it was still illegal and after he got out of jail and many more states had legalized he said that was still very much the case in his opinion. That's just one guy I guess but that see s pretty consistent with most states right? The legal businesses replace the illegal ones and a new main stream culture props up and thrives and newer better products emerge.

Decriminalize it and let the market thrive and it probably lead to better for everyone in the very long run. The type of fear mongering you seem to be doing is a lot like people said about Colorado (or maybe I'm confusing it with New Mexico) just before it became the first state to legalize. None of the things people predicted negative came true in Colorado and almost as soon as the state saw this influx of money they changed their tune super fast.

Just let this be the beginning of a better system than what we already have. Isn't it always talked about how the medicinal experiment is just a pathway to recreational? Because people that wanna do it are just gonna do it anyway and medicinal is just the stepping stone t recreational and more positive olicies and stuff can follow.