The Economic Saving of Legalization Marijuana Mark Preston Wilmington University Abstract Ignorance, hysteria and fear are the leading factor behind criminalization of cannabis. This is due to Harry j. Anslinger; he was the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930. And began an anti-marijuana information full of false information and campaign saying marijuana was a killer drug in which lurks murder, insanity and death. Although several states have started the process to take advantage of the economic benefits from the legalization of marijuana, in addition some states are on the course of decriminalize marijuana. With Some states taken advantage of legalization or decriminalize of marijuana it would give those states the able
“Marijuana's contraband status is a result of historical accident, racial prejudice, xenophobia, loads of cultural baggage, and an astonishing amount of ignorance”. (Sullum) Jacob Sullum, in “The War Over Weed”, chronicles the history of marijuana within the United States from its appearance with migrant Mexican workers, to its position as a symbol of the rebellious counter culture movements. Sullum talks about Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger and his campaign to outlaw marijuana. Sullum also comments on the “Commerce Clause” which enabled the U.S government to micro-manage the affairs of individual states. The outlawing of marijuana has led to an expensive and seemingly futile battle to eliminate the plant and its use.
Every year our state has to spend a large sum of money on supervising marijuana because it is illegal. But once Proposition 19 is passed, those marijuana offenders and drug traffickers will be innocent. “The measure could result in savings to the state and local governments by reducing the number of marijuana offenders incarcerated in state prisons and county jails, as well as the number placed under county probation or state parole supervision”(Brown 14). This could save California millions of dollars annually.
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
Certain Hindu sects in India used marijuana for religious purposes and stress relief. However, doctors did believe that consumption of marijuana in excess caused impotence, blindness and “seeing devils”. In modern times hemp is used for a wide variety of purposes including cordage of varying tensile strength, clothing, nutritional products and various industrial purposes. Making marijuana illegal in North America has helped create many street gangs who profit from the sale of a plant that is less harmless than alcohol and less addictive than coffee. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the benefit of legalization of marijuana from financial and social aspects, and also from its benefits in providing relief to many patients across the world.
The Conspiracy Behind Marijuana Many people know of marijuana in some way, either by personal experience or know of someone that uses it. What most people don’t know is the many beneficial uses of marijuana. There are so many misconceptions about the cannabis plant. What you hear in the media about marijuana may not be true. The reason for this, in my opinion, is the fact that the US Government wants the public to believe that marijuana is “bad” and should remain illegal.
Drugs such as opiates and crack cocaine should not be legal due to the massive effects they have on individuals. According to Charles B. Rangel “Drug legalization threatens to undermine our society. The argument about the economic costs associated with the drug war is a selfish argument that coincides with the short-sighted planning that we have been using with other social policies. With any legalization of drugs, related problems would not go away; they would only intensify. 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.
Legalizing marijuana here will save and make an immense amount of money. Keeping marijuana illegal, however, costs a lot more money. Our tax money is being spent on the cost of prosecution and defense of accused offenders, cost of incarceration of convicted offenders, foster care and social services for children of incarcerated offenders, and cost of active law enforcement (SDAA). Housing a single marijuana offender in a prison costs taxpayers over $100,000 (Donziger). In total, taxpayers spend up $7.5 billion, or $23,500 per person, annually on feeding, clothing, and providing shelter for marijuana offenders (Donziger).
Bennett’s chapter against the legalization of drugs he speculates that the legalization of drugs would remove the criminal stigma that currently labels drug users. Bennett theorizes that a removal of this stigma would take with it the hesitation felt by the majority of people who see no positives in a life of crime. He is talking about every drug which one would agree that such a broad decriminalization would send our country into a downward spiral filled with addicted citizens barely able to function within society. The hard drugs that Bennett describes are in fact a danger to society such drugs like PCP, heroin or crack cocaine. However, he barely touches on the fact of marijuana alone.
Should Marijuana be generally legalized In today’s society there’s a huge controversy, should marijuana be generally legalized. Marijuana has a lot of ups and downs to being legalized. If marijuana became legal, how will this affect America. Marijuana has generated intense controversy: some feel marijuana should be legal and some feel marijuana should stay illegal. Marijuana should be legalized because it’s not fair for religious use, lower the number of arrests, and too expensive for the government.