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Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

633 Words3 Pages

The prohibition of Marijuana has caused tremendous social expenses and has ultimately failed citizens of the United States. Legalization of this substance has proven in many areas to be beneficial, and by doing so could create jobs, save lives, and save you tax dollars. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 52% of all arrests in 2010 were for marijuana. From 2001 to 2010, of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests, 88% were made due to the civilian simply being in possession of the substance; which is legalized in multiple states. States waste an average of $3,613,969,972 enforcing marijuana laws, which has miserably failed at keeping Americans away from the drug, while an average of 30 million citizens use it every year. This is billions of tax dollars that could be put to use in many other proven beneficial ways. Cannabis has also proven to have significant medical effects on cases such as Epilepsy, Nausea, pain from AIDS, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Insomnia, and many more. Revoking the prohibition on this plant would benefit our economy, depopulate our prisons, and have tremendous positive effects in the health field. Benefits of Reform …show more content…

Many states are now reforming these laws to become more lenient on the drug and criminal charges that would typically come from this substance. The reform of marijuana laws can prove to be profitable if legalized across the board and taxed; similar to the reform of alcohol prohibition. Reform also erases the need for users to involve themselves with drug dealers who are often in gang related activities, benefitting from prohibition. Billions will also be saved and used for actual beneficial works in communities across the

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Aside from a multitude of medical benefits, it is important to recognize how the United States economy could save an estimated 7.7 billion dollars annually, if they let citizens to have an alternative legal form of medicine such as marijuana. Many of our country’s money saving would stem from the amount of money which is spent in order to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate those who utilize medical marijuana. Caputo and Ostrom have as well stated, “It estimated that the figure represents 10-15 percent of the total trafficking illicit marijuana sales which, assuming a 15 percent

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There are many cases that people see on Facebook or other social media and news outlets where it is reported that people who commit more serious crimes, such as driving under the influence and hurting people, get off easier on technicalities than people who possess drugs, specifically marijuana, do. With the crime and jail rate being so high in America, that is concerning because it poses questions such as “what does our society value”? In research conducted by the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, it was found that police officers arrest 700,000 people annually for some sort of marijuana violation, and around 90% of those arrests are based on just possessing it (Cannabis Policy). This is a very large number for marijuana alone; imagine the number once all other drugs and crimes are taken into account. Legalizing the drug could decrease that number substantially by reducing the amount of people arrested for possessing it alone.

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But the financial benefits of legalization go beyond taxing the sale of marijuana and keeping drug money out of the hands of criminals. All across the nation, wherever the drug is illegal, state and local governments spend enormous sums of money on the enforcement of marijuana laws, the prosecution of offenders, and incarceration of the convicted. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the American taxpayer spends $40 billion per year on the administrative costs associated with the criminalization of marijuana (Becker). On the state level, we can again look to the example of Colorado. Conservative estimates by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy show that legalization will save the state $40 million per year by no longer administering marijuana laws (Drug Policy Alliance).

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(Rabinski, 2015) The Huffington Post listed the many economic advantages of legalizing medical marijuana in the story “14 Ways Marijuana Legalization Could Boost the Economy” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/marijuana-economy-14-reasons_n_2089107.html). Some of the surprising benefits include: • $13.7 billion saved on prohibition enforcement costs • Estimated $500 million in tax revenue for Washington State • Estimated $60 million saved by Colorado legalization • Legalization could reduce marijuana prices • Huge prison cost savings (for prisoners on marijuana-related charges) • Marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $41.8 billion a year • California marijuana crop worth $14 billion a

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A Prison Population There are about 537,000 non-violent marijuana possessors put in American prisons every year. By legalizing marijuana we could get all of these people out of prison and bring them back to their families. Marijuana users are put in danger when brought to jail because they are not tough violent criminals and could be violently assaulted and raped, this creates an unsafe area for them. B Help For Addiction

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The government isn’t just spending too much on the war on drugs, they could instead be making billions in tax revenue from the marijuana trade. There will always be money to be made from marijuana, but the government needs to decide if the money will go into their pockets, along with legitimate business owners, or into the pocket of drug dealers. When regulated and taxed correctly, marijuana legalization can produce remarkable economic benefits for a state. As proven by marijuana trade revenue in legal states, “In 2015, the legal marijuana industry in Colorado created more than 18,000 new full-time jobs and generated $2.4 billion in economic activity” (Ingraham). The fact of the matter is that the jobs and economic activity related to marijuana continue to persist in the unregulated states, however it goes unrecorded and untaxed, because after all it is illegal.

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“People who consume cannabis products may be more inclined to visit places that have legalized cannabis when considering vacation destinations” (Blackburn 2). There is a big business opportunity because of marijuana. It can provide jobs for people and it can also provide revenue from sales and taxes (Blackburn 2). The legalization of marijuana would be the goose that lays the golden egg to not only the people that use it, but to the government and the economy. The United States is trillions of dollars in debt and legalizing marijuana could over time help reduce that amount a little bit.

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To Kill a Mockingbird was published right as the Civil Rights Movement peaked in the 1960s. Lee 's interest in the subject of civil injustices in the south began when she was just five years old. At the time, nine black men were on trial for raping two white women. This was a highly controversial and publicized trial. In the end, the nine men were sentenced to lengthy prison time.

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To add, recreational marijuana is taxable! Therefore, it is money that can be put into our communities. Recreational marijuana as intimidating as some may think, can actually benefit our community in many ways. To begin, many believe legalizing marijuana would cause crime to increase, on the contrary legalizing it will lead to a decrease of crime. Imagine that getting your hands on marijuana was as accessible as cigarettes in a gas station, how many illegal cigarette dealers have been punished in jail with the maximum sentence for selling cigarettes?

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Legalizing Marijuana Nationally: Is it Worth It? Marijuana, also known as "Cannabis" or "Weed", is a highly addictive drug created by the leaves of the hemp plant. The use of this has been around for decades, but has only recently come to the attention of the people of our nation as this once illegal drug has already been legalized in some form in twenty-three states in the United States, with Colorado being the only state where marijuana is completely legal (Harkinson, 2014). The debate on whether it is a good idea to legalize this drug or to not legalize this drug is still ongoing as the remaining states decide whether or not to legalize marijuana.

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Before decriminalization of marijuana was established, the state of Alaska spent almost $25-$30 million dollars a year enforcing marijuana prohibition laws. After decriminalization, such funds were able to be transferred to necessary programs and civil services. The state of Alaska reported a significantly large marginal increase in revenue along with positive resident feedback due to the decriminalization. On a national level, a recent report by Jon Gettman estimated that national criminal justice expenditures for enforcing marijuana laws is “$7.6 billion per year” with “$3.7 billion” being allocated to police, “$853 million to the courts”, and “$3.1 billion to corrections”, amounting to a total of $15.253 billion dollars in tax payer dollars (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). That is $15.253 billion dollars that could be put towards education, public services or paying back the nation’s momentous pile of

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Why does the government spend billions of taxpayers’ money annually, when they could generate billions in tax revenues? According to Time, the legal medicinal cannabis economy “already generates $200 million annually in taxable proceeds from 500,000 registered medical users in just 16 states.” Pointing out that prescription drugs are the causes of fatal drug overdoses at over 26,000 a year, alcohol consumption at over 23,000 a year, and a mere goose egg for the number of deaths cannabis has caused. Cannabis is not just as safe as alcohol consumption, it’s safer! America agrees, with 58% supporting full legalization and 80% supporting medical marijuana legalization.

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In comparison, many of American natives have spent billions of dollars on the purchase of marijuana, which is almost the same amount that the purchase of alcohol puts into our economy. The profit from the marijuana goes back into the drug dealing cycle and the country does not get any benefit from the profit made because the government is not the distributors. Our federal government continues to complain about how expensive the “war on drugs” is and that our economy crisis does not need the continuation of unsuccessful programs that add to the debt. In reality the states in America spend billions to enforce marijuana laws. “In national surveys, 6.5 percent of high school seniors admit to daily use (Khamsi, 2013).”

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If marijuana is regulated and taxed properly, it can generate millions of dollars that can help pay the debt of the US and/or help cities rebuild a better infrastructure. Marijuana has become the third most popular drug in the US behind alcohol and tobacco. It is a renewable resource and is not just used for smoking; it can be used to make paper, oils, and cloth. Every year millions of tax dollars are being spent to enforce marijuana laws. If these laws were repealed and marijuana was legalized, we would not only make money from the marijuana, but we would also be using a lot less money to enforce marijuana laws.

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