We've had legal weed here in Washington since 2012, and it's fine; we're not having those problems. New York has simply botched their legalization, in much the same way California did, by making it too difficult to get a retail license.<p>The author believes that legal weed must struggle to compete with the black market due to the cost of licensing, but that doesn't have to be true. Despite our 36% excise tax, marijuana in licensed stores is less expensive than it was on the old black market, and the quality, consistency, and variety of products are all much better. (You <i>can</i> pay more than the old black-market price, if you want to, for top-shelf product; but you probably couldn't have gotten that at all, before.)