In legal businesses, no matter how profitable or large, even the most bitter disputes can be resolved nonviolently. When a business is outlawed, conflicts cannot be resolved in the courts. A customer fails to pay on time, but a drug dealer can't sue to collect a debt. When promised goods aren't delivered, a drug buyer can't sue a drug dealer for breach of contract. When a trusted employee goes to work for the competition, the employer can't enforce a covenant not to compete.
Cocaine is worth about eight times the value of gold and is sold only for cash.
Drug violence can only be curtailed if the drug trade is regulated. The drug trade can be taken away from the criminal cartels by changing the law. The cartels cannot be stopped by more force or violence-that is, more law enforcement. Simply eliminating drug organizations opens the market to new organizations to meet the demand and to make the profits. Our strategy has been as effective as a royal edict commanding the tide not to rise.