Benefits Of Decriminalizing Marijuana

The war on drugs is a costly battle. A great deal of resources go into catching those who buy or sell marijuana, prosecuting them in court, and housing

Growing up everyone is always told “drugs are bad for you” over and over. As children, we have no perspective and do not fully understand the use of drugs. Drugs are always around us, especially marijuana. It is the most commonly used drug in the world. As much as we are told not to use this substance or be around it, many have encountered it in some way before. Marijuana being illegal in most states does not stop people from using the substance. Since this illegal drug is still used no matter the situation why not benefit from it and legalize it throughout the United States? Marijuana could have a positive effect on America in relation to health and the economy.

Legalization of marijuana is an important issue; most people recognize it as “harmful and addictive,” from the essay “Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized,” while others regard the ban on marijuana as ineffective, expensive, and unjust (1). According to Senator Bernie Sanders, “too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That’s wrong.” The ban is unjust for Americans because it is a complete waste of our tax dollars to continue criminalizing citizens for marijuana use. Legalization of marijuana in every state will be beneficial; for our economy, medical value and breakthroughs, lowering crime rate, aiding people who are victims of drug abuse, and more. The following paragraphs will explain further.

For the sake of building off the previous entry, I would like to incorporate a couple of marijuana related legal statistics from Steven Nelson’s article Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released data on the crime figures for drug-related crimes in 2012 and it showed that a staggering 749,825 people were arrested for marijuana related offenses; that is one arrest every 42 seconds. It also accounted for 48.3 percent of all drug arrests. Even with the recent upsurge in public support for the liberation of the drug policy, police arrested the same number of people in 2012 on pot-related charges as they did in 2011. These numbers have led many people to begin forming advocacy groups geared to decriminalize the drug. Dan Riffle, the director of

The War on Drugs has continued to be a very large expense ever since President Nixon declared drugs as “public enemy number one” back in 1971. The expenses continue to climb as years go by. Ian Urbina’s New York Times article "Blacks Are Singled Out for Marijuana Arrests, Federal Data Suggests" states that, “In 2010, states spent an estimated $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana possession laws, a 30 percent increase from 10 years earlier. The increase came as many states, faced with budget shortfalls, were saving money by using alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. During the same period, arrests for most other types of crime steadily dropped,” (Urbina). So not only is upholding the ban on cannabis incredibly costly on a year to year basis, but it also leaves

First, one of the biggest reasons for many to legalize marijuana is the boost in revenue it can cause. Legalization will allow the government to form new taxes and apply them to the sale and distribution of marijuana. For example, in Colorado, analysts say that taxing could lead to raising millions of dollars each year. States who have legalized marijuana show higher numbers of usage than states who have not. That is why there is a higher demand for weed creating better economic opportunities for these communities in the future. Secondly, legalization could lead to improvements in the criminal justice system and law enforcement. If marijuana was made legal law enforcement agencies could spend less time going after weed related crimes and focus on more serious and violent criminals. This is a better for the criminal justice system because when it comes to decriminalization there will still be discretion on how each officer deals with possession. Therefore, legalization will

As of 2014, the annual cost for the maintenance of U.S. prisons totaled approximately $212 billion. The legalization of recreational drug use would lead to a dramatic

American Civil Liberties Union estimated $211 million was spent by local governments between 2000 and 2010 to enforce marijuana laws. An economist and a senior lecturer at Harvard University found that $20 billion would be saved on law enforcement and generated from taxes should marijuana use become legal. That number is not significant in terms of an overall government budget, but arguably high costs for a drug with the comparably causes little harm (Sledge, 2013).

A benefit of legalizing marijuana includes providing the government with leverage to this problem. Marijuana is currently against federal laws yet medical marijuana complies with several state laws. Every year, the government is obligated to spend money directly related to the cost of enforcing marijuana laws. Marijuana is a cash crop and can be used for clothes, paper, medical substances, along with many other uses. The legalization of marijuana would provide the government and our country with control over a huge cash crop that can be easily cultivated to our climate. In addition to exporting hemp and marijuana to accumulate more funds, the government would be able to tax the plant very similarly to alcohol or tobacco. If this were the case, it is estimated ‘according to the calculations here, legalization would reduce government expenditure by $5.3 billion at the state and local level and by $2.4 billion at the federal level.” (Miron18). These figures generated in the article the Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition reinforce that the calculated values of getting rid of the expenditure caused by marijuana offenders along with the taxation of the substance would be a substantial revision to our economy.

In a national survey conducted in 2005, there were an estimated 97,500,000 Americans, age twelve or older, who had tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime. That number equates to roughly 40% of the United States population. The United Nations stated in 1999 that an estimated 141,000,000 people worldwide had used marijuana. That number makes up roughly 2.5% of the world population ("Marijuana Statistics"). With so many people using marijuana throughout the world, it leads many people to question why it has not been legalized. To enforce marijuana laws, it costs about $10,000,000,000 of tax money. Not only is it expensive to keep marijuana illegal, but it can also greatly profit the United States by legalization ("About

“In the past year, the population in America’s jails and prisons has grown to 6.9 million, including those on probation and parole. A 1999 study showed that 60,000 individuals were behind bars for marijuana use. This cost taxpayers $1.2 billion.” (Stevens) There are more arrests made on marijuana charges than violent crimes combined. These violent crimes include assault, rape, robbery and murder.

Second, marijuana plays a very significant role in the criminal justice system. The fact that marijuana is illegal causes problems for many people today. A significant amount of the nation’s prisoners have been charged with drug related crimes. Many people arrested for smoking or possession for usually very small amounts of marijuana can be locked away for years at a time. In this way, the justice system is flawed; the so called “war on drugs” has done nothing but spend tax dollars on filling prisons with people that committed minor crimes such as marijuana possession. They are trapped in this revolving door and can be potentially turned into lifelong criminals. Further, legalization of marijuana could potentially do good on the street. Legalization would make marijuana regulated and publically available. This action could put drug dealers across the country out of business. In addition, an argument could be made that a reduction in street justice and gang violence. If marijuana is legal, why would anyone have to fight over it? As a result, less people will be caught in the cross fire of street violence, drug dealers will have no business, and police officers will be freed up to focus on more serious crimes. In addition, there will be nobody charged with possession thus the Justice system will be repaired and

Marijuana is a monumental industry capable of reaping billions of dollars, but at its present illegal state is only helping drug dealers and growers while simultaneously costing our government money. Dr. Jon Gettman makes a claim in his 2007 case study that “the U.S. marijuana industry is a $113 billion annual business that costs taxpayers $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues (Krulik)”. 31.1 billion dollars is a huge loss to take for essentially, no reason. If we find cigarettes acceptable to be legal despite the very obvious health risks why would we not legalize marijuana too, even if there are a few minor risks. Gettman has also come to the conclusion that 10.7 billions dollars a year are being spent on marijuana related arrests, most of which are simply minor possession cases. Between the 31.1 billions dollars being lost on sales and the 10.7 billion dollars being spent on law enforcement of the plant, about 41.8 billion dollars in revenue are being lost solely because the government would rather keep marijuana illegal than oversee and regulate the growth, distribution and consumption. 41.8 billion dollars could save programs in schools, fund highways, and stimulate the economy in a way we may have never seen before. Legalizing marijuana would also be the start of a massive new market creating countless jobs. Just as cigarette and alcohol companies, marijuana could

Judging from a deontologist’s standpoint, marijuana should legal because it helps to improve the lives for some individuals. Marijuana can be used for various medicinal purposes. There are various options for the government regarding the regulations of marijuana, such as: removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances or removing marijuana from the schedule 1 of the controlled substance act, and placing it on a different schedule which allows for physicians to prescribe it. (Barnes, 2000) The legalization of marijuana would also help with the ongoing war on drugs and help to bring down the high crime rates in the United States. The prohibition of marijuana reduces the supply and increases the demand for the marijuana, thus increases the crime rates for the individuals who commit the crimes to pay for the drugs. According to David Boaz article, “The Failure of Prohibition,” “…Police officials have estimated that many major cities as much as 50% of crime- including auto thefts, robberies and assaults, and burglaries- are committed by these individuals to support their drug habits.” (1991) Prohibition is a failure because it creates more problems and usually never fixes the original problem. This is another reason why the government should not be allowed to regulate the lives of its citizens. The government cannot justify banning marijuana all together because it is used for recreational purposes, when it is also commonly used to help

If marijuana was legalized, among state and local governments, there are major ways that the government would be saving money. Firstly, there would be savings within the police departments and resources. By cutting down the amount of criminal activity going on, fewer arrests will be made, the amount of police resources could be cut down as well, which would then result in savings in salary and other resources. Jerome Adda, Brendon McConnell and Imran Rasul of The University of Chicago Press state that, “A depenalization policy can free up police resources to tackle non-cannabis drug crime.” According to data retrieved from ABC’s Matthew Laratonda, “ The 50 states and the District of Columbia spend a combined $3.6 billion each year enforcing bans on marijuana.” Prosecutorial and judicial resources will be needed less as well, which will also lower the court and prosecution costs. Lastly, one can find a great savings in government funds is within correctional resources. This is because the amount of marijuana related incarcerations would be greatly reduced. In the United States the prison population is six to ten times higher than in most European nations (United States Bureau). When it comes to the federal expenditures it gets a little trickier, but according to the United States census, the federal government, without worries of marijuana related crimes in the United States will save approximately $2.6 billion (United States Bureau). Although, by decriminalizing marijuana,