Marijuana Must Be Legalized In the November 2016 election, five states voted on legalizing recreational marijuana. Four of those states voted “yes”. Five more states approved medicinal marijuana use. This continued a move toward legalization that has been growing since the federal government made marijuana illegal in 1970. The 2016 results show that it is time for the federal government to lift the ban on marijuana. The majority of Americans support legalization. Lifting the ban would not only recognize the will of the American people, but it would also offer real benefits. It would provide a boost to the economy and would allow law enforcement to focus on serious crime. It would also lead to a safer product for the millions of Americans who …show more content…
The benefits have already been seen in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana. According to a 2015 study by the Marijuana Policy Group, the marijuana industry in Colorado has generated $2.4 billion in economic activity (Ingraham 1). This includes $1 billion in retail sales and $135 million in tax revenues. These tax revenues are three times greater than the alcohol industry and are expected to pass the cigarette industry by 2020. Colorado has seen the creation of 18,000 new full-time …show more content…
More than 700,000 people are arrested each year for marijuana. This is more than all violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault) combined. Eighty-eight percent of arrests are for possession only (NORML 2). Between police, the courts, and prisons, the costs are huge. A 2004 study estimates that Alaska stands to save $25-30 million per year (Austin 1). Jeffrey Miron of MIT estimates $120 million of annual cost savings in Massachusetts (Austin 2), and California’s Attorney General says the state would see reduced costs in the low hundreds of millions (Harris 1). Nationwide, the cost estimates for marijuana enforcement range from $5 billion to $10 billion