When cannabis advocates have been seeking to push for legalization in the past they have argued that the transition to legalization would mean less business for the black market. In regions like California, Colorado, and other areas, the black market still exists though.

In fact, legalization might have strengthened the black market because of the many rigid rules that are still in place surrounding cannabis-related activity.

In areas like Colorado and California, where you can see a great deal of cannabis freedom that has seemingly been legalized, the market in both spaces has grown significantly.

You can find a wide range of cannabis products and services, but still there are SWAT teams busting down "illegal grow ops" in various communities in these states and elsewhere around the country.

As officials in Colorado, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, and other states, have made the move to adopt cannabis legalization, this might have sent the message to the people that those officials finally agreed and believed it was wrong to initiate violence against people over a plant like cannabis but we see that this isn't the case.

People are still suffering and unnecessary resources are still being wasted on this drug war.

In California, the black market is still thriving and it always will be. That is what decades of the war on drugs has demonstrated to us, that the black market will find a way. Even in prison, individuals find a way. The legalization process has earned a great deal of revenue for the government over the years but it is still overly restrictive in many ways and many people are still prevented from making voluntary exchanges in this market despite the big bold promise of "official" legalization.

Legalization might sound like an end to the drug war but it's simply a re-branding, they are still policing personal choices and keeping up with the drug war as passionately as they ever did. Cannabis-related arrests continue increasing despite the wave of legalization across the United States.

Some legalization advocates say that the black market is a buzzkill for the legal cannabis industry but those actors within the legal cannabis industry are not owed any exchanges. People have the freedom to choose who they want to go to for their products and services. I think the $3+ billion market cali market will be just fine, along with the others.

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