States held an estimated 250,900 drug offenders in 2003. That means it costs states approximately $16,948,295 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6.1 Billion per year. (American) The French organization OGD points out the deeper economic impact from the eventual release of American drug felons: according to some estimates some 3.5 million prisoners will be released between now and 2010, and an additional 500,000 each year thereafter. “Such a large-scale release of unskilled people - most of them cannot even read and write - will have a negative impact on wages, which are already low in deprived urban areas, due to a massive influx of men desperate to get a job; especially, since the reform of the welfare system in 1996 severely reduced felons’ access to welfare money.
This intern will reduce the time for a prisoner to go through the judicial system, most inmates spend a good deal of time waiting for their court appearance, if they are innocent then this conflicts with their work and life. The federal and state governments also spend an astronomical amount of money on fighting Marijuana as well. For example 100 million dollars a year is spent on
In 2009 an estimated 858,408 individuals were arrested for marijuana violation. Out of those whom were charged approximately 89 percent were only charged for possession. Depending on the state, the government spends 1 billion to 10 billion dollars annually on the prohibition of marijuana. According to economics professor Jeffery Miron of Harvard University the statistics prove that the American government is further crippling the U.S. financially. After endless amounts of research it has been concluded that legalizing cannabis would be the best financial decision for the United States.
“Total marijuana arrests increased 155% during the 1990s, from 287,850 in 1991 to 734,498 in 2000. However, these increased arrest rates have not been associated with a reduction in marijuana use, reduced marijuana availability, a reduction in the number of new marijuana users, reduced treatment admissions, reduced emergency room mentions of marijuana, any reduction in marijuana potency, or any increases in the price of marijuana.” (Gettman 21) And the enforcement of state and local marijuana laws annually costs US taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion dollars. Researchers say, “Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement.” (Miron) Legalizing marijuana also creates the possibility of taxation. Studies show that revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or
Over the past year the rate of robberies has increased by more than 1,000. Philadelphia has a poverty rate of 25% percent, which is currently the highest percentage in the United States. Philadelphia developing] a large population and high poverty rate robbery higher than that of Baltimore. Baltimore having a population of 639,919 is a metropolitan area that is located in the state of Maryland. The city of Baltimore has had 3,336 robberies in 2010 .
There are approximately 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States today. (Government, 2011) The actual numbers of illegal immigrants are unknown. The United States spends $338.3 billion dollars each year on the fight on illegal immigration. (Bank, 2009) That is more money spent than on the Iraq War. Imagine if we were able to take that money and place it on the American debt instead of fighting people coming here to escape the horrors of their
Miron of Harvard University stated the government could save $7.7 billion dollars a year if the prohibition of marijuana was replaced with a system of taxation and regulation. Around $2.7 billion dollars a year could be made off of tax revenues if marijuana was taxed the same as regular consumer goods. However, if marijuana was taxed the same as alcohol and tobacco it could make the United States around $6.2 billion every year. According to the Federation of American Scientists' Drug Policy, 60,000 individuals are behind bars for marijuana offenses at a cost to taxpayers of $1.2 billion per year. Instead of losing money on the prohibition of marijuana we should make money on the regulation and taxation of marijuana.
In Nevada, where this estimate was generated, the legalization has proved a success. The war on prostitution causes a huge deficit in taxpayer’s dollars and in fact in the city of Los Angeles alone “spends close to 100 million dollars annually dealing with illegal prostitution” explains Paul Armentano. Imagine what the legalization of prostitution would do for the economy. Instead of throwing money into prisons where it is “assumed that as much as one-half of a typical urban city's prison female population are prostitutes”
The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that in January of 2000 there were 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number that is growing by half a million a year. Thus, the illegal-alien population in 2006 is estimated to be about 10 million (Illegal). It is said that this number is much lower than the actual figure. Nearly 210,000 aliens are believed to have died or returned home on their on account. In addition, 63,000 were removed by the INS and 183,000 were awarded green cards, and therefore deemed legal (Illegal).
Since the mid-1950s, suicide rates around the world have risen by 60%. Rates among young people have risen even faster, to the point where they are now the age group at highest risk in 35% of the world’s countries. The specific demographics, however, vary from country to country. China’s pattern, for example, is very different from that of most other countries. China has a suicide mortality rate of 23:100,000, with a total of 287,000 deaths by suicide each year.