Decriminalization Of Marijuana Essay

The legalization of the drug marijuana is a hot topic nowadays. Many people want this substance to be legalized and regularly available like cigarettes. But what some people do not know are the serious health risks involved when using marijuana. There is a lot more to marijuana than just smoking it.

Marijuana is a misunderstood drug. Many assume that the usage of marijuana, or cannabis, is dangerous, but it can be the exact opposite. So why is the legalization of marijuana in the United States such a problem for many people today? Considered to be a gateway drug and the reason for the downfall of our youth nowadays, marijuana has developed a negative reputation. Lester Grinspoon, a professor at Harvard University, states, “Few drugs in the United States have produced as much affective heat as marijuana, particularly during the last decade. The controversy essentially revolves around the question of how dangerous or safe the drug is." However, many people are persistent users and believe that this drug is no more harmful than

There currently exists a great debate concerning Legalization of marijuana. Many people are against the idea, but there are a number of people who fight for the idea to legalize Marijuana. The people that try to Legalize Marijuana use two major arguments in their effort to have marijuana legalized. First, which is by far the biggest argument is that marijuana has a significant medical use. The second is that marijuana does not cause harm to those that smoke it. Both of these arguments can be easily discounted by the numerous studies that have been done on the effects of marijuana both medicinal and recreational. Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled by the well financed and organized pro-drug

Marijuana, a substance that was used frequently during the colonial times, has taken a social downfall in recent times. Although it is still illegal to possess or use for any means by federal law, states like California and Arizona have taken steps in the other direction.

Marijuana should be legalized nationwide because it can help many different walks of people with their medical issues and maximize revenue for the government. The legalization would positively impact the economy of not only individual cities, but of entire states as well. Medical marijuana is also constantly used as a painkiller in the place of Vicodin and other prescribed drugs. Pot, skunk, kush, mary jane, chronic, weed, grass, herb, hemp and ganga are just a few of the abundance of nicknames that marijuana has. Of Indian origin, the actual drug is green, brown and grey, with incorporation of seeds, leaves and stems. “Some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14

That’s an average of 440,000 people per year just for possession. With each possession charge there costs that go into arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning the individual being charged. Multiply those costs by 440,000, and that is a staggering amount of money spent each year just on minor possession charges. There are arrests that happen for non-possession charges as well. These are typically violent crimes due to drug related disputes that break out during a drug deal. 4 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. If all states legalized marijuana for recreational use they would produce an estimated $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like normal goods, and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at the same rates we tax alcohol and tobacco (Miron). With legalizing marijuana, the government expenditure would decrease, and the overall tax revenue would increase. There are ways to even chip away at the unemployment rate if marijuana were legalized. With the legalization of marijuana, the estimated number of farmers employed to grow marijuana on their farms in a large quantity would be around 15,000 due to the amount of space needed to grow a substantial amount of marijuana (Caulkins). In addition to the 15,000 farmers, there would need to be workers to cultivate the plant, transport the plant

Cannabis sativa or Marijuana as is commonly known worldwide is a hard drug with adverse side effects to the users. With this reason it is an illegal drug in a majority of parts in the world. However according to research statistics, with this illegality there is still a high rise of both users as well as those initiated into the practice annually with the United Nations placing it first among the illicit substances widely used in the world (UNODC 198). Having worked previously in a number of facilities for juvenile delinquency and correction in California I observed and participated in the numerous ways, methods and tactics employed by the government to reduce the use of cannabis sativa with little success. Instead, the number of crimes

If pot was made a legal drug it would also greatly affect the crime rates in the U.S. Legal prohibition does not stop consumers from purchasing or using illegal drugs. By instituting a system of regulations on the drug, as with alcohol or prescription drugs, illegal drug prices would fall, leading to lower prices of the drug, therefore related crimes such as theft would be reduced. Illegal drugs are higher in price because of the inherent risk involved in production and distribution of them, which gives them a “black market status”. When people develop drug addictions (although pot has not been shown to be addictive) or habits they will do anything to get money to support their lifestyles. Many times people will resort to robbery or theft to account for money to gain access to the drug. By legalizing pot, it in turn reduces the risks associated with an illegal drug and therefore can lower the prices, which helps cut down on the secondary crimes. Drug dealers are also affected by legalizing pot. Most marijuana dealers would go out of business because of a loss in profits. By making the drug illegal, the

“Because of marijuana prohibition, America’s largest cash crop is grown exclusively by unregulated criminals, often in environmentally damaging locations such as national parks and wilderness areas. Such problems are virtually unknown with legal, regulated crops such as tobacco or wine grapes.” (Marijuana Prohibition Facts, 2008)

Some people believe that through the legalization of marijuana, our nation’s tax revenue will significantly increase. On the contrary, like many other drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, taxation of the drug will cost the nation money. For example, as stated by Marty Nemko, a psychologist and career coach, knowledgeable on the effects of legal marijuana, states that “legal pot does not yield tax dollars, it costs tax dollars”(Nemko). As with the taxation of alcohol and tobacco, tax dollars are not increased as commonly thought due to the cost of dealing with addiction, driving under the influence, and domestic abuse or illness. (Miller) Likewise, if marijuana were legalized, its accessibility would cause a total loss in tax revenue. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education estimates “legalization…[of marijuana] would bring with it additional substance abuse in [states] and long-term public costs… that would vastly exceed the ... amount of new revenue legal weed might import.” (Miller) The California Board of Equalization estimates that treating the taxation of marijuana like alcohol or cigarettes would result in a tax revenue increase of a dollar while the nation would be spending $8.95 for treatment of marijuana drug abuse related cases (Miller) Since, the taxation of legal marijuana

Marijuana has a long standing history of being one of the most controversial substances in America. While the history or the Cannabis plant indicates not only acceptance as a useful plant, but even advocated as a source of revenue and medicinal usage, much of the United States government propaganda over the last 100+ years has led Americans to accept very slighted and often false information about the plant and its uses. Based on the origin of the illegalization of marijuana and the inconsistent findings of its effects in comparison to other substances, both legal and illegal, marijuana should be decriminalized and treated as a recreational substance just as alcohol and tobacco are.

A number of movements to legalize marijuana have been gaining attention lately. Currently there are 14 states where marijuana is legal for medical use (medicalmarijuana). 41% of U.S. citizens believe marijuana should be legalized (drugpolicy) but others are still concerned about health damage. American society has lost the war against marijuana, and that's okay. We should stop wasting time and money trying to reverse history and instead legalize both medical and recreational use of this mild narcotic widely seen as no more harmful than alcohol.

Marijuana legalization is multi-faceted as it has a ripple effect on all aspect of the economy from cultural, religious, health, etc. The effects of legalizing marijuana cannot be over-emphasized in any economy as this paper will examine some of the effects and which are as follows:

Economically speaking, marijuana legalization would make a significant impact resulting in the government saving and earning quite a bit of money. First of all, enforcement costs for cannabis charges would essentially be non-existent. Furthermore, the government could also tax the production and sale of marijuana. This would cause the government expenditure to decline and the tax revenue to rise. Jeffery Miron, a professor in the department of economics at Harvard University, conducted research in 2005 in which he gathered that legalization would reduce government expenditures by nearly $8 billion annually. About $5.5 billion would be from decreased expenditures locally and $2.5 billion would be saved on the federal level. These expenditures

less dangerous than tobacco and people smoke less of it at a time. Or you can