I get what you guys are saying, but most of those types of mobsters sold drugs anyway. They just didn't want anyone else cutting in on their action or lower members selling and getting caught and flipping. Carlo Gambino had a "deal and die" rule in his family, but he was big into the drug trade.
I'm just saying, while I get it, their hypocrisy is still stupid.
Sorta, in the old days, selling that kind of drugs weren't part of their racket. They were trying to stay out of that kind of business. To them, it wasn't that drugs were bad, there was a lot of downsides to them. Gangsters are businessmen and approach everything like that rather than personal(although I'm not saying there's no form of hypocrisy here, I'm just stating why they probably felt that way)
Yeah this.
Think of it this way. In your post you said "extorting businesses for protection money, robbery" = okay for the mafia/gangs. True. Now if you introduce narcotics into those neighborhoods, the standard of living is most likely going to depreciate. Less money to take advantage of. More random crime (look at the opioid epidemic and crime rates) outside of their purview.
They aren't against drugs for the fact that "Drugs are bad m'kay" but how it diminishes their opportunities and life. Keep in mind that the mafia/gangs we are talking about have their own connections to their areas. There is a sense of family/national/cultural pride going along with it.
It's why Vito had to be talked into the narcotics game and even then, only if they distributed it to black/minority neighborhoods and not Italian.
If you want drug hypocrisy in GTA games, look no further than Vice City Stories. The end of the game, the Vance brothers agree to never get involved in the drug business again but you can still run drug houses post game. >_>
The real Irony there is a drug deal gets Vic clipped and starts Lance's downfall. But their whole story is Vic wanting out and Lance wanting more. They pushed their luck too far. ---
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