High Dreams: Taxing Marijuana Essay examples

The legalization of marijuana will lead to a boost to the economy. With the United States being trillions in debt, an increase in tax money would be a big help to lower the national debt. Colorado, one of the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal uses, is showing valuable data of an increase in tax money, “In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medicinal and recreational marijuana. Sales totaled over $996 million” (Krishna, Mrinalini). Now, Colorado is joined by seven other states, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada, in the full legalization of marijuana. With these states joining with Colorado, the United States is seeing sales “[grow] by 30%, to 6.1 billion, in 2016 and a projected 20.1 billion in 2021” (Krishna, Mrinalini). With that in mind, these sales are shared among only eight states, add another forty-two states and the rates could surpass the trillions. Considering the evidence, the act of not legalizing marijuana would be foolish.

Legally distributing marijuana will also make a large amount of annual revenue for the government through taxation of the drug. “According to a 2010 study from Cato, legalizing marijuana would generate $8.7 billion in federal and state tax revenue annually.” (Fairchild 1) The legalized circulation of the drug would also lead to a positive impact on the revenue of the state and the country due to the high sales tax on the drug. The U.S. government will most likely tax the drug the same way that they tax alcohol and cigarettes as well. The higher the demand for the product, the higher the tax is. Another reason why this drug should be sold nationwide is so that the government does not have to constantly regulate the drug anymore. “By one government

Lantern.com reports that the first day of the year, pot sales in Colorado were more than 1 million dollars and the tax rate was about 29 percent (Jackson). According to The Huffington Post, a state like Texas could double that amount (Jackson). A study from Cato Institute also revealed that legalizing marijuana would generate at least 8.7 million dollars in federal and state tax revenue annually (Jackson). If marijuana brings in millions of dollars we need to use this money for schools education and lunches. Not only could the government use that money for schools, but use that money for military and economic purposes. Marijuana can also open many jobs because of the dispensaries, and if there were a great quantity of dispensaries employment would rise. “The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5

The government set aside thirteen point seven billion dollars for the 2008 war on drugs and the Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that Americans will spend ten point five billion for marijuana this year (Dubbin, 2008). That is twenty four point two billion dollars that could have been used by the government for other things. According to Harvard Economic professor Jeffrey A. Miron, “legalizing marijuana would save seven point seven billion a year in government expenditures and add six point two billion in revenue if the wacky tabacci were taxed like regular tobacco.”

Many states have legalized cannabis, for example, Colorado has already seen many positive results. The economy has been in an upwards advantage with raising over ten million taxes from the retail sale of cannabis within the first four months. They will use the first forty million of the tax collection to better the public schools in the area as well as improving the youth campaigns about substance abuse. Marijuana had not only raised more money for the state is has also saved millions of dollar in a single year.

Legalizing marijuana has become a controversial and highly debated topic. More specifically, the question under investigation is will the taxation of marijuana provide relief for our Connecticut's budget crisis and shortfalls. Legalizing marijuana has been a topic of conversation more and more as the year's pass. First, it started off with decriminalizing marijuana to provide relief to the justice system. Recently there have several states, including Colorado, Washington, and Oregon who have legalized the use and sale of marijuana to provide revenue for the state. It is anticipated that Colorado marijuana tax will yield more than $140 million in 2016 (Ekins and Henchman, 2016). Given our own budget crisis, which seems to be the topic every

Legalizing recreational marijuana will help the United Sates economy by combating the war on drugs. Regulation of the drug will bring money into the state and to the nation as well. Moreover, Clare Howard in his article, Why legalize recreational marijuana states, “America has lost the war on marijuana. The cost to taxpayers has been $1 trillion and has resulted in 40 million arrests. The war on marijuana needs to end like Prohibition ended in 1933 with the country recognizing failed public policy and formulating another plan with reasonable regulations and restrictions… perhaps regulating marijuana like alcohol and keeping it illegal for

As shops for recreational and medical Marijuana open, more purchases of the product will be made which impacts the tax revenue. An example would be Colorado (a state that legalizes Marijuana) where “In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana” (Krishna, 2017). Arcview Market Research also predicts that “Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021”. The legalization of Marijuana will also provide many job opportunities since a variety of different jobs will be needed that relate to Marijuana. Investopedia.Com states “A RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect, and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion”. Another way legalizing Marijuana would impact the economy positively is that the government can save money spent on enforcing the law of Marijuana being illegal. Huffington post states “Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually, according to a 2007 study, AlterNet reports.” and “The government would save an estimated $13.7 billion on prohibition enforcement costs and tax revenue by legalizing marijuana”.This low risk substance saves the economy a lot of money and support it

Marijuana has been used over the years for both recreational and medical purposes. In regards to both, the United States economy has spent billion of dollars annually enforcing the laws of the illegal use of marijuana. Legalizing marijuana would give an important

Not only can money be gained through tax revenue if it was legalized but money that was previously spent because of marijuana prohibition can now be saved. Every year our country spends $68 billion on prisoners with one-third of them being imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes (half of these being marijuana-related charges). Therefore, legalizing marijuana would save $11.3 billion because it wouldn’t be spent on prisons. That money being spent on prisons is your tax dollars! Not only does keeping those in prison with marijuana-related charges cost a lot but so does time and money of our police enforcement when they have to charge someone simply having a joint in their home or with friends. Imagine how much police officers could focus on other crimes if they didn’t have to worry about marijuana charges.

The Government should legalize the use of marijuana because of the economic benefits it would offer, The debate over whether the federal government should legalize marijuana has been escalating and states such as Colorado, and Oregon have legalized the use of medical and recreational use of marijuana due to the realization that marijuana could greatly benefit their economies, such as the creation of jobs, tax revenue, and young business leaders. The legalization of marijuana is highly beneficial to the United States government because it will save the government billions of dollars. According to Jeffrey Minron a Harvard economist “If marijuana were legalized, the government would save $7.7 billion dollars annually in law enforcement costs, and it could bring an additional $6.2 billion a year” (3).If the government were to legalize marijuana nationwide, there would be billions of dollars, which could be used to solve actual problems in the United States like education, poverty, Instead, the billions of dollars are being wasted to loosely enforce the ban.

To explore the economic benefits of marijuana legalization we must first look at the amount of marijuana that is purchased by users. The White House Office of National Drug Policy reported that between 1988 and 1995, Americans spent about 7 billion dollars on the illegal substance, averaging about a billion dollars a year (Prislac, 2009). This means that annually there is a billion dollars out there that is subject to no sales tax. The national average for sales tax is 5%, so if you calculate the billion dollars being spent on marijuana, this means there is approximately 50 million dollars in sales tax that our government never gets

It is estimated that marijuana is the largest cash crop in California, with annual revenues approaching $14 billion. A 10% pot tax would yield $1.4 billion in California alone (time). The taxation of marijuana would create more jobs and stimulate the economy.

The legalization of marijuana will be beneficial in creating job opportunities, boosting tax revenue, and reducing the number of arrests due to possession of the drug. The number of people arrested for marijuana law violations in 2013 was 693,482 which costs the United States more than $51,000,000,000 annually (Way, 2013). The governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, in 2012 signed an executive order becoming the nation’s first statewide vote to end marijuana prohibition. Making recreational use and home cultivation of small amounts of marijuana legal in the state of Colorado for adults 21 years of age and older. According to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy amendment 64 will save the state $12 million in savings for the year 2013 because of a deduction in criminal costs. Courts and prisons are seeing less violations due to issues with marijuana so there is no need to spend as much of the tax payer’s money on them. Legalization of marijuana will not only benefit the states by reduced law enforcement expenses but will also create jobs. Marijuana is a billion dollar industry that the government is missing out on. With the legalization for the popular drug comes an abundance of career options and job opportunities. There will be a need for companies that can make pipes, bongs, vaporizers, papers and other products associated with weed which will then create job openings. It will also create large amounts of profit and revenue from the sales tax that the government could implement. On the market there will be a new product being produced and sold increasing gross domestic product for the United States. It is expected that the legal use of recreational marijuana could increase Washington State’s tax revenue by $25 million by July of 2015, with an estimated $200 million increase by mid-2017, according to state economists (Shumacher,

Would you want your tax dollars to go to thousands of people who are imprisoned for smoking marijuana or would you want it to go towards city improvement programs? Marijuana is one of the most widely used organic drugs out in the world today. Therefore, many see an opportunity to make more money on the side, but it is illegal to sell this nontoxic drug, unlike alcohol and tobacco products. The herb continues to grow in popularity and politicians are running out of ideas on how to restrict the use of it. By continuing to restrict the use of marijuana, politicians are unknowingly increasing the amount of people rebelling against the law, therefore increasing the amount of money being spent on putting drug users into jail. If the prohibition against marijuana is relinquished, the revenue from marijuana can be used for medical research and city improvement programs.