Over the past decade, there has been a steady march toward the legalization of marijuana, with 21 states having legalized its recreational use since 2012.

There have been some recent headwinds to that effort, as voters in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota rejected legalization referendums last year. And Tuesday, Oklahoman voters gave a resounding “no” to the question of marijuana legalization. …

Marijuana has become a major source of crime in Oklahoma. In an eight-month period in 2021, for example, over five dozen raids were conducted on illegal marijuana cultivation operations — many of which were run by foreign nationals. Raids have discovered human trafficking, money laundering, and workers living in squalid conditions. Some of these properties had drugs with street values in the tens of millions of dollars.

Following the vote Tuesday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said, “Regardless of where one stands on the question of marijuana legalization, the stark reality is that organized crime from China and Mexico has infiltrated Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry.”

[While I have some sympathy for marijuana decriminalization, it’s far too simplistic to believe that legalization means an end to marijuana-related crime and violence. It might have the salutary effect of fewer civil-rights violations on users, it doesn’t eliminate illegal trafficking, especially where states impose tax and regulation on the industry. It just incentivizes a slightly different form of a black market, and organized crime thrives in those environments. On top of that, legalization likely incentivizes more demand, which helps feed the black market as well as the legal and quasi-legal markets. — Ed]