Marijuana has been illegal in the United States since the early 1900’s. Lately the topic of legalizing marijuana has become a major issue in today’s society. While many people support this initiative, many people still do not believe marijuana should be legal which leads to a controversy between people. Although if legalized, marijuana can be beneficial to society in a number of ways; whether it be for the economy, medical benefits, or the general public. Recently, some states such as Colorado and Washington have legalized medical and recreational usage within the state, although the drug remains illegal at the federal level. In 2015, Colorado collected 53 million dollars of tax revenue on legal marijuana sales. With these revenue figures expected to …show more content…
Every year, thousands of people are sent to our prisons for marijuana convictions, these minor convictions contribute to the overcrowding problem we face in prisons today. These convictions also take a lot of time and the money to go through the court system, reducing the resources available towards more deserving crimes. With legalization, the police will be able focus less on marijuana related crimes and will have more time to focus on more serious criminal offenses. Many states such as Maryland have started bills to expunge minor convictions along with the decriminalization of marijuana. Cartels and drug dealers also would be directly affected, because with the ability for people to buy from a safe and secure location it would take away some of the power and the money that they have today. This also can also reduce the amount of other drug use, as many people who get marijuana from them are often exposed to other drugs while doing these drug deals. Without having the exposure to other drugs, fewer people would have the chance to turn to harder