Legalizing the green? WOULD LEGALIZING CANNABIS BE A GOOD ECONOMIC DECISION? Section 1.0: Introduction “Around 750,000 Australians use cannabis every week and approximately 300,000 smoke every day” (ABC News, 2008). The use of Cannabis in Australia has been illegal since the early 1900’s, which has had a variety of effects on the economy of Australia. As Australia has a well-established and large underground market for Cannabis, there is enormous latent government revenue, which many Australian’s believe should be utilized through the legalization of cannabis. However, the legalization of cannabis has other costs and benefits related to it. A cost-benefit analysis will be used to analyze whether the legalization of cannabis would have an overall positive or …show more content…
One of the most well designed studies on marijuana and intelligence, released in 2012, found that persistent, heavy use of marijuana by adolescents reduces IQ by as much as eight points, when tested well into adulthood. Other studies have found that marijuana use is linked with dropping out of school, and subsequent unemployment, social welfare dependence, and a lower self-reported quality of life than non-marijuana abusing people. According to the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, youth with poor academic results were more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as youth with an average of higher grades. This is consistent with an exhaustive meta-analysis examining forty-eight different studies by Macleod and colleagues, published by Lancet, who found that marijuana use is consistently associated with reduced grades and a reduced chance of graduating from school. In addition, studies have linked employee marijuana use with “increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.” (Oakes et al,