Legalizing and regulating narcotics and converting it into legitimate business would reduce crime, create jobs, and increase tax revenue. Treat it like tobacco and require narcotic companies to fund rehabilitation programs and drug education as well as using a portion of the tax revenue to do the same.. This would offset the short term increase in drug use caused by legalization. If this was done internationally, latin american economies could benefit from a legitimate narcotic industry. Basically, IMO, the pros outweigh the cons, and with proper education and regulation, you would likely see the same trends that are going on with Tobacco(something like 80% reduction in tobacco use in the last 20 years)