Agreement:
Within the past half-decade, eight states and Washington, D.C. have legalized the use and distribution of recreational marijuana. As marijuana use continues to become normalized in society, voters in the upcoming ballots are faced with the ultimate question: should the United States of America legalize recreational marijuana? In the long run, legalizing recreational marijuana provides more positives to society than negatives. One reason why people are in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana is that marijuana use is less dangerous than alcohol. Numerous studies have classified alcohol as the most hazardous substance because its impairment affects not only the user but those around the user. In a recent survey by The Economist, scientists ranked the most dangerous drugs on a 100-point scale by two factors: the harm caused to others and the harm caused to users. The study ranked alcohol as the most dangerous drug – scoring an enormous 72, with more than half of their score
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The first four states to legalize recreational marijuana reaped over $200 million in combined tax revenue in that year alone. Also, studies estimate that illegal marijuana is a $36 billion industry in the United States. Not only does this extra money help to boost the economy, but it alleviates many hard decisions between budget cuts among law-enforcement, education, and other essential departments of the United States. With President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cut of education by 5.3% or $3.6 billion, many public schools will have to reduce their resources because of a lack of funding. The market for marijuana is growing and shows no signs of stopping. If the marijuana industry remains illegal, then the United States would be allocating all the money that could be generated into education into the hands of the