$1 a gram in Uruguay is not “effectively free” - it’s apparently only about 30% under the local black market price.
Presumably illegal operators are charging as much as they can get, which comes out to a retail price of $1.50 or so a gram. If that wasn’t enough to make a profit including compensation for the risk of being in a illegal line of work, they’d quit and do something else.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d prefer legal and regulated weed even at a fairly significant markup over illegal stuff, for the peace of mind of avoiding the legal risk (however minimized by my privileged skin colour), and buying a product that’s quality controlled with respect to strength, pesticide application, adulteration, safe working conditions, labour standards, etc. etc.
