(Clark, n.d.) In November 2012, voters in Washington and Colorado agreed to directly challenge the federal marijuana prohibition and legalize the growing, selling and consuming of marijuana for all people age 21 and older. State officials have spent the last few months working on regulatory schemes that would not run afoul of federal authorities, who have so far taken a hands-off approach to marijuana enforcement in both states. (Clark, n.d.) What message does this send to the users of marijauna and to those who continue to sell and distribute marijuana illegally? In part, that's because legalizing drugs takes away a significant deterrent against drug use. Moreover, for as long as we have monitored drug use, we have seen that whenever there is a decrease in the percentage of young people who perceive marijuana use as harmful, the percentage of users increases.
America should have learned this from the prohibition of alcohol. The government uses criminal penalties in an attempt to stop users, but over 25 million people use marijuana annually. Cannabis is the largest cash crop in the United States, currently. I believe prohibition could actually increase drug use for teenagers. Marijuana, now days, is extremely easy to get, and most drug dealers don’t have age restrictions.
This is because the federal government would regulate and tax Marijuana, similarly to alcohol and tobacco. The federal government on average collects close to 7 billion dollars a year just from tobacco. If Marijuana were to be legalized the taxes would be projected to be the same. This means an extra 7 billion dollars a year for use on programs and could be used to prosecute criminals for harsh crimes such as murder and robberies. An estimated 1,663,582 arrests were issued in 2009 alone, this is an extreme amount of arrests, and it’s aiding to the overcrowding of jails.
People suffering from many illnesses would be able to experience relief. Also the government would make billions in tax revenue. There have never been any deaths recorded from the use of marijuana. It is not physically addictive, like alcohol and tobacco, and most doctors will agree that marijuana is safer than those substances. On the other hand legalizing marijuana can create a lot of problems.
Responsible legalization of medicinal marijuana Bea C. Anton Comm 215 March 7, 2012 Hope Umansky Responsible legalization of medicinal marijuana In 1996, the California Compassionate Act or Proposition 215 was passed by 52 percent of voters. This law legalized the sale and consumption of marijuana for medical purposes. The act allowed for the medicinal use of the drug by the terminally ill (Wood, 2011). People suffering from cancer and the effects of treatment were exempt from criminalization. Although legal in the state of California, the sale and use of marijuana still remains illegal under federal law.
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.
Illegal drug crimes would drop, allowing the police to turn their attention to more serious problems. There is a marijuana smoker arrested every 45 seconds in the United States. Normally, they receive large fines and small jail time but repeat offenders can get up to five years. Sadly, rapists and murderers are able to get only one year. Do you really think smoking a joint is worse that raping and killing someone??
Once marijuana became illegal in 1937 legal prohibitions against the drug have cost tax payers billions of dollars in law enforcement. Billions of dollars have also been lost in revenues if marijuana had been taxed in the same manner as are alcohol and tobacco. Decriminalizing marijuana has a very large potential for becoming a large source of additional tax revenue. The government profits millions of dollars in cigarette and alcohol taxes. Imagine how much more money could be made if marijuana became legal.
The government’s most recent drug survey, the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “over 800,000 adolescents ages 12-17 sold illegal drugs during the previous 12 months preceding.” (NSDUH). Marijuana has damaged and brought chaos to lives of many young Americans. Medically, it is not addictive, but some people say that they begin to form a habit, and it becomes a psychological, rather than physical, addiction. Although marijuana is less harmful than other substances that are legal, chances are that if more people smoked marijuana because it became legal, there would be an increase in health problems. A study was done by the DEA in 2004 in which 19.1 million Americans aged 12 or older used illicit drugs in the 30 days prior to the study.
Marijuana can have dras-tic effects on the American culture medically and economically. Being outlawed in most of the states, it has since been falsely accused with having many negative side-effects... almost none being scientifically proven. It causes a knowledgeable person to wonder why marijuana is kept prohibited, while harmful substances such as alcohol and tobacco are kept legal and supported by the government. Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking.