Legalization Of Marijuana Research Paper

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 recreational marijuana is an important debate, one that could really cause drastic changes in societies. Marijuana has entered a dark stage in the pathway of legalization, and it is correlating with the prohibition stage that alcohol rested in. The debate can often reach a nasty level between individuals taking sides with the topic. Legalization of marijuana can be very beneficial under regulated circumstances, therefore making all of the negative views less important.

Medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial topics in politics for years regardings its legalization and any possible benefits. Marijuana is commonly referred to as the “gateway drug” and has been thought to be what causes the downfall of our youth in today’s society. This has caused Marijuana to earn a bad reputation due to the immense surrounding propaganda and bias opinions. Cannabis is the scientific name of the plant which is absolutely natural and free of chemicals, but the psychoactive components in the plant has been proven to be of medical use. If medical marijuana is prescribed correctly it has the potential to help thousands of patients due to the variety of benefits it can medically provide. Medical Marijuana should

Legalizing marijuana will provide an increase in our economy. The first step is that the government needs to stop copiously funding the war on drugs. Over the past four decades, federal and state governments have poured over one trillion dollars into drug war spending. I will admit that the government should keep running advertisements that persuade youths from using methamphetamines, crack-cocaine, and heroine. However, when money is being thrown away by the government trying to convince people that smoking pot is bad for a consumers’ health, that is a sign a change must occur.

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.

Out of all 50 states, 23 of them have legalized the use of medical marijuana, including our capital, Washington D.C..With that being said, I believe that marijuana, medical and recreational, should be decriminalized nationwide. The United States is in tremendous debt as a result of our own mistakes, and offering our help to other countries. If marijuana were legal in all 50 states, and were taxed to the benefit of surpassing our debt, we would become increasingly financially stable.

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.

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

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 use has been dated back as far as five thousand years ago in China, where religious shamans and medical doctors utilized the cannabis plant to treat, or even cure devastating diseases. People all around the world have been using marijuana for euphoric and pharmaceutical reasons for centuries. Marijuana was not a problem until 1925 when politicians tried to constitute a treaty called the International Opium Convention. This legislation attempted to control the international trade of marijuana. Twelve years later in 1937, the Controlled Substance Act declared the use and possession of marijuana illegal and classified it as a scheduled one drug, which indicated that marijuana had no safe medical use and that

Marijuana is a very prominent and controversial issue in society today.In many cases the use of cannabis has been known as the most prevalent illicit drug used in Australia and many other countries. Although medical marijuana is illegal in Australia, Whether it should be legalised or not is still a commonly discussed topic.

The numbers of deaths caused by recreational marijuana consumption is frightening anti-marijuana advocates, the main reason behind that, is that the death toll is at a staggering zero percent, which puts them in a very rigid position of opposing its legalization. That’s is why I am pro marijuana use for recreational purposes. In my essay I am addressing the hypocrisy of people who are opposing marijuana but at the same time, they have nothing against alcohol consumption. Secondly, I am going to explain some of the many economic and social benefits of legalizing pot.

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.

My thoughts are to not legalize marijuana because there are many reasons on how it can affect you if you use it. Researchers argued marijuana is too dangerous to use and lacks on FDA to approve and many legal drugs make marijuana uses unnecessary. Also, it’s very addictive which can lead to harder drugs in the future. Not to mention it weakens driving ability, injured your lungs, immune system and the brain. Even so it makes you anxious and paranoid since it’s common for people after they smoke to get panic attacks like about if anxiety after using cannabis. Lastly, the medical marijuana is a basic drug for legalization it should go through testing to make sure it could be used for medical purposes.

“Over the past year Colorado alone has gained 2.39 billion dollars just from the marijuana industry to be put back into the economy” said, Daniel White a Time journal writer. This is just one of the many different pros of the legalization of marijuana. Many of the states that have legalized marijuana are at the bottom of the poverty list for the country such as New Hampshire, Maryland, Connecticut, and North Dakota which are the in the top five for the lowest poverty rate. Legalizing marijuana nation wide would be a huge economic benefit for a couple reasons one being the medical benefit for people, another being the personal benefit that a person can take out of the experience, and the huge economic boost that the country would hit.