If we legalize it, the cartels would be selling MORE here. Just as the people selling alcohol during prohibition times sold more, and made more after prohibition than they ever did during it. As for crimes associated with alcohol. The U.S. Department of Justice Report on Alcohol and Crime found that alcohol abuse was a factor in 40 percent of violent crimes committed in the U.S. Crime and Alcohol An estimated 32 percent of fatal accidents involved an intoxicated driver or pedestrian (the majority are drivers, however) with a blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, of at least 0.10 grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood, the most commonly used definition of intoxication. Still think it's not a major contributor to crime and negligent deaths? The cartel can't compete with someone's personal garden, and those who would grow it themselves are already doing so.