If we legalize, we will be paying much more than the $30 billion per year we now spend on direct health care costs associated with illegal drug use.” (Charles B. Rangel; Criminal Justice Ethics, Vol. 17, 1998) I agree with him because legalizing drugs such as crack cocaine does a lot of damage to the body and people tend to go overboard in using the drug. For people who shoot up with needles there will be a lot more health risks and a vast spread of diseases. It is already hard to afford medical help this will not help the
In total, taxpayers spend up $7.5 billion, or $23,500 per person, annually on feeding, clothing, and providing shelter for marijuana offenders (Donziger). Building new prisons, because there is such a vast number of marijuana prisoners, costs even more money. Since taxpayers have paid nearly $300 billion to fund the War in Iraq, it is time a burden is taken off the taxpayer’s shoulders (Office). Incarcerating drug offenders cost taxpayer 1.8 billion annually, according to most analyst (Stuart). Other substantial costs include enforcing marijuana laws.
The author of the article goes on to say that people in the US are sentenced to do time for crimes that would not produce such a sentence in other countries. According to another article in the New York Times (2008), states spend close to ten percent of their budget on corrections (Liptak &, 2008). In 2007 alone, states spend close to $45 million tax dollars. Not only is simply housing an inmate costly, but healthcare also provides a financial burden. In 1998, the states paid a little over seven dollars a day per inmate for healthcare (Kinsella, 2004).
Methamphetamine is one of Americas biggest enemy, it causes millions of tax payers money. B. Thesis: Methamphetamine the that drug kills many, saves none. Yet no one is doing nothing to stop it. Main Point#1: Methamphetamine is brought from Mexico, or made here in the United States. A.
government has accumulated so much debt that it is absolutely suffocating the U.S. economy” (Snyder, 2010). “Traditionally, about 75 percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses. But today, hundreds of thousands of small businesses are being strangled out of existence by all of the oppressive taxes, fees, rules, regulations, paperwork and demands that government keeps imposing on them” (Snyder, 2010). It is hard almost getting close to impossible for small businesses to prosper, and if small businesses can’t succeed, then there are not going to be any more jobs created. During all these years has become dramatically stacked in favor of large businesses.
A survey done in 1991 showed that over 20 million people used marijuana within that year. In the United States there are more than 300,000 drug offenders in prison at every moment costing our government $100,000 per cell, meaning it costs $30 billion to make a place for these people to serve their crime. In addition it costs $25,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison, adding $15 billion more to our already high costs (Towards a Policy on Drugs). Elliott Currie describes that the United States should adopt the Dutch policy of legalization of marijuana and other hashish drugs excluding cocaine and heroin. These two drugs are much more harmful to you and can be highly addictive.
Breadwinners are lost, families destroyed, more kids grow up without fathers or mothers, welfare costs increase, the entire sex ratio is thrown out of balance and prisoners face grim prospects when released. The hyper-incarceration statistics for African-American males are much worse. We incarcerate one in nine African-Americans between the ages of 20 and 34. In 2003, it was calculated that "At current levels of incarceration newborn black males in this country have a greater than a 1 in 4 chance of going to prison during their lifetimes, while Hispanic males have a 1 in 6 chance, and white males have a 1 in 23 chance of serving time." By 2007, just four years later, the U.S. Department of Justice
For gangs, selling drugs is the fund-raising equivalent of a church bake sale. Gangs use drug money to buy more weapons and more drugs. Gang violence and illegal drug sales perpetuate each other. To stop this vicious cycle the government spends billions of dollars every year on the “War on Drugs” to prosecute and imprison drug dealers and users. Under this system the government spends billions and gangs make billions.
Since 2006, nearly 50,000 Mexicans have died in cartel-related homicides (The Cartel Crackdown). In the face of such statistics, the choice becomes clear; legalize it! If marijuana was legalized, the US would be taking a crippling amount of business from the cartels. Less business means less money, and less money ultimately means less power. In essence, legalizing marijuana reduces
They say that we are down below 13 million now. So that is a significant decrease, 50 percent as far as drug users.”4 In Australia had one of the largest prevalence of amphetamines at 21 percent in 2008 is starting to show a decrease in use from 27 percent testing positive in 2007.4 In Russia Eighty-seven thousand people were arrested for drug related crimes in 2006 – an increase of 24 percent over 2005. "5 In the United Kingdom the statistics show "In general, the quantity of seizures has been rising in the United Kingdom, cannabis being the most seized drug. In 2009, 12,690 kg of cannabis resin, 18,162 kg of herbal cannabis and 764,184 cannabis plants were seized across the UK “6 The ‘War on Drugs’ seems to be working, however at a very slow pace. Commissioner Kelly