Tax funding for States.
Insiders Financing and positioned to do well.
420 is not a cartel necessity, much is domestic and no advantage is gained via import in terms of quality. Costs of import make it less viable than domestic ops.
By legalizing notice prices are same, or higher than black market, the true profit is extracted on financing and CapEx and stock deals for those consolidating industry.
Classic case of the establishment gaining market share from thouands+ of locals growing high grade hydro, etc.
Add to that a large tax base and you have Political support.
Add to that it is entertainment for most user and weakens society (similar to alcohol), so from a macro socio-economical position the cabal and globalists are also in the game.
Good point too is how easy it was to do, and how no resistance was successful against it.
From a societal cost me thinks alcohol is moar detrimental, and with legalization offering no cost savings for users, I am undecided whether it should be legal.
My position generally is the black market is there for a reason and legalizing is govt sponsorship to a degree. Not saying it should be illegal, but prolly not legal, I do not want my kids to be smoking at 14 yrs old like I did, and legalizing over time will likely increase young users and lower the age they start.