Marijuana advocate: If marijuana were legalized in this state, the state could start assessing tax on the drug, increasing state revenues  Since sales would be legal, the criminal culture supporting the drug would vanish; as crimes ceased, the state would save money on fighting crime  Overall, the state has a tremendous amount to gain by making the drug legal  Attorney General: Studies of legalizing previously illegal drugs in other countries suggests that criminals controlling the business will not be eager either to sacrifice their profits or to play by the rules
Moreover, diverting money from crime-fighting after such legalization gives those criminals more free rein
calling into question the validity of the evidence cited