Positive Effects Of Legalizing Marijuana

What could be the possible effects of legalizing marijuana both for medical and recreational use? Legalization could possibly change many aspects of the lives of the citizens and the government of the Unites States. The positive effects of legalizing marijuana, such as increasing revenue while decreasing spending and criminalization, far outweigh the negative effects. Marijuana has been legalized in different areas of the United States already, and the effects have proven to be beneficial. Marijuana has medical benefits that are just waiting to be released on the public. Other benefits included cutting spending used to fight marijuana while increasing revenue with taxes on the sales. Positive benefits have all been shown in the state of Colorado,

If marijuana was legally sold in the United States, there could be a tax imposed on marijuana based goods. As of now, marijuana sales aren’t being taxed by the government because its sale is illegal. The taxes made off the legal sale at dispensaries could lead to billions of dollars in revenue for the government. There is also money to be made off the distribution of licenses to legally own, grow and sell marijuana. The State Board of Equalization in California released a report that estimated the state could generate about $1.4 billion in revenue from a tax on marijuana. The revenue would result from “$990 million from a $50-per-ounce fee and $392 million in sales taxes,” (Edward 2). The money generated from taxes on marijuana related goods have a tall list of beneficial uses. This new revenue could go back into the country to improve such things as education, medicine or the country’s infrastructure. It could also be used to even further expand on the medical marijuana field and studies or campaigns. There is billions to made of the taxation of marijuana related goods and millions of fields that could use the revenue funded to

In January 2014 Colorado took a huge leap into uncharted territory, marijuana was legalized for both medical and recreational use. Colorado flourished with the marijuana industry, and the positive effects far outweighed the negative. The state even noticed positive effects that were not even considered when the thought of legal marijuana was proposed. From January through May, just a mere 5 months, Colorado generated $23.6 million dollars in revenue from taxes, licenses and fees (Downes 1).According to Downes, police are now simply focusing on public smoking violations, and not spending their time chasing people who are now law-abiding citizens for marijuana crimes. This extra time that has been freed up may be used to focus on other crimes that may occur, and may be more violent and harmful. Even with all that extra time, it may be unneeded as burglaries and robberies in Denver are actually down from a year ago, (Downes 1). Along with burglaries and robberies, “The Colorado State Patrol reported in April that fatal crashes in the first quarter of 2014 were down 25.5 percent from the year before,” (Downes 2). The decreases in crime and crash rates exactly go against the suspected effects of legalized marijuana which included blight and violence (Downes 1). Effects such as these prove the beneficial aspects of marijuana, with little negative outcomes in sight.