The war on drugs is heating up again. After Mexican forces moved against cartel leader “El Mencho,” violence erupted across the country. President Trump has made combating drug trafficking a central focus of his administration—designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, targeting alleged drug boats with airstrikes in the Caribbean, and capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The instinct to double down is understandable—fentanyl has devastated millions of American families over the past decade, and the cartel economy is built on poison and brutality. However, the uncomfortable truth is that prohibition may be fueling the very cartels we’re trying to fight.

From Al Capone’s bootleggers to Oregon’s failed decriminalization experiment, black markets have proven nearly impossible to eradicate, no matter the approach. I’m as anti-drug as anyone, but is it time to consider full legalization?