Legalization Of Marijuana On The Economy

Legalizing marijuana is a concept that can potentially benefit the public as well as the local economies. There has been a nationwide debate on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The major consensus is that marijuana is not only bad for one’s health, but it is also dangerous to the community. These allegations are not true. Marijuana actually has health benefits that most people overlook. It is important to understand the many issues of legalizing marijuana in order to better understand how legalizing marijuana for medical purposes can be beneficial to an individual’s health, and how it can give an increase to the economy.

A controversial topic often being advocated for by sitting governors is whether the legalization of marijuana is more beneficial or harmful to the economy. Marijuana, also known as weed, is a mixture of the dried and shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant. It’s the most widely used illegal drug in the United States, even though studies have shown results that the benefits of using marijuana for medicinal or recreational reasons far outweigh the negative matters that may be associated with its use. While marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law, thirteen U.S. states currently have compassionate use laws in place, which allow for regulated medical marijuana use. By legalizing marijuana, the government is helping the economy by reaping medical and financial benefits, not only at the state level, but also at the federal level. Taking into account the numerous studies done with marijuana on whether it is for recreational use or medical purposes, the government cannot go wrong in legalizing marijuana because of such an impact it will have. Marijuana should be legalized for recreational purposes because it will help society economically and socially.

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.

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.

When most people are asked about their opinion of marijuana, not very many actually have a problem with the drug itself. The driving force behind their decision to be against marijuana is based mostly on the fact that it is illegal. TIME magazine held a poll on their website in which they asked their readers if marijuana should be legalized. Given that TIME’s website is not likely to be a full representation of ALL their readers, nor the rest of the people in the United States, an astonishing 80% of the poll agreed that the legalization of marijuana should be put into effect (St. Pierre 1). One philosopher who would probably side with this 80%

After so many years, America still finds itself fighting a well-known and highly demonized "enemy". The enemy is not terrorism. It's an "enemy" that many Americans have dealt with face to face. This enemy is illegal drugs, marijuana in particular. Marijuana is the most widely used and criminalized drug in the United States. This highly sought after resource yields a black market price tag that creates a street economy all its' own. This is Marijuana by itself, it and all the other illegal drugs together combine to form the third largest economy in the world. This is because the demand for illegal drugs is so high. There can be benefits to a legalized drug trade that is certain. The following paper will defend that some uses of

The question that is plaguing the nation is whether Marijuana or “Weed” should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use. There’s many benefits to legalizing Marijuana especially economically, because it creates a new market for states. Marijuana has already been legalized for recreational use in two states, Colorado and Washington and most recently at the election has been made legal in the states Maine, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada. According to DISCUS.org, alcohol alone generated $400 billion dollars in revenue and created nearly $90 billion in wages and over 3.9 million jobs for U.S. workers. Tobacco also generated a large portion of state's economy alone too, in 2010 cigarettes and other tobacco products produced $15.5 billion in revenue.

Abraham Lincoln spoke of prohibition as an “attempt to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes” (Lincoln). The prohibition and eventual repeal of the prohibition of alcohol taught the United States a valuable lesson about making essentially non-harmful entities illegal. Yet, even today the current prohibition on marijuana reforms has put the United States in a similar situation. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “95 million Americans age 12 and older have tried "pot" at least once, and three out of every four illicit-drug users reported using marijuana within the previous 30 days” (ONDCP). The decriminalization and eventually legalization for the recreational use of marijuana will bring forth benefits in all aspects of life in the United States. Many oppose the idea of marijuana legalization, but there is strong evidence to support the endless benefits its of legalization. 1. For starters, cannabis is proven to not be a life-threatening drug. 2. Furthermore, legalization will result in enormous societal benefits such as tax benefits, decreased criminal behavior, and the creation of new jobs and businesses. 3. Ultimately, the legalization of marijuana will bring forth safeguards and regulations to help insure the safe use and regulation of the product.

Source: Colorado Legislative Council. Tobacco Products Tax. 2016. Colorado Department of Revenue. Colorado Liquor Excise Tax Report. December 2015. Colorado Department of Revenue – Office of Research and Analysis. "The Economic Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado." Marijuana Policy Group.

My first source is an article written back in 2013, right after the legalization of marijuana was passed in Colorado. It mentions that $7.7 billion was being spent annually on the prohibition of marijuana. It projected $47 million in tax revenue, but if it were legalized at the federal level

The legalization of marijuana would, to many Congress men and women, is thought to bring significant revenue to this country just on the taxes alone. It may even boost the job market by creating jobs for the federal government to employee workers at federal marijuana farms. The Obama campaign though does not believe that if the bill were passed that this would help reform the nation’s economy in any way (Montopoli, 2009). Even though marijuana may be viewed as a casual drug in today’s society, if it were legalized the effects it would have would have negative repercussions on people physically, mentally, legally, and socially.

The United States has been involved in a failing battle versus marijuana since the execution of the Uniform Narcotic Act in the 1930's. Americans are not only squandering almost eight billion a year, Americans are losing probable income. Americans could be in a position to gain a profit of a significant amount of revenues if marijuana were to be legal and structured by the Department of Agriculture (Norml, 2014). Revenue from the tax system of marijuana purchases would extend from about two and a half billion for each year if marijuana were taxed like conventional inventory products to six billion if it were taxed like tobacco or alcohol.

In the article “ Economic Benefits of Marijuana Legalization,” Abbas P. Grammy argues that government will legalize marijuana to the result from economic benefits of marijuana legalization. The author claims that legalization of marijuana reduces the risk- premium on the production and consumption, it also has an effect on marijuana’s supply and demand. After legalized marijuana, there will have two periods of demand. The first period is a sharp increase of the marijuana demand, but it won’t take a long period. The second period of demand of marijuana may be a long- term, but the number of the consumer may gradually reduce. Grammy refers about Jeffrey Miron, Miron reports that there are many economists advocate legalized marijuana due

This paper will delve into a more detailed explanation of the problem with illegalization, with solutions on how to legalize marijuana to produce a better nation economically, medically, and therapeutically.

Medical marijuana has been a touchy subject the last few years. From being legalized in multiple states to being enforced more heavily by the DEA. It has been under scrutiny because of the people that use and sell it. The uses of marijuana not only medically but economically are quite vast and could benefit us greatly. This essay will put forth the reasons why it can stimulate our economy and society while disproving the arguments of why it is bad.