Legalizing Marijuana
Even though many hold to the idea that marijuana is ruining people, evidence shows its beneficial. The definition of marijuana (n.) - is cannabis, especially as smoked in cigarettes or the dried leaves and female flowers of the hemp plant, used in cigarette form as a narcotic or hallucinogen. Most of us, if not all of us will be in the same situation before a party or event. Your inside or outside, and you smell a strange herb. You see a group of kids talking and laughing as they take turns hitting and passing a joint. Then they soon see you and ask you that powerful pressuring question, “Do you want a hit?” Maybe you said yes, maybe you said no, maybe you smoke all the time, or maybe you never have and never will, but it was so peer pressuring when asked. The main purpose of this essay is not to convince you to smoke weed or take a hit when someone ask you, but more to educate you and let you understand and know about Marijuana. From it being everywhere even here in California, its time to know the truth about
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Smoking a joint once or twice can be on your record for drug offense. (Crime, unforgiving). The government could make a profit of $7 billion a year legalizing marijuana just like tobacco. Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President once quoted, “Marijuana is of first necessity to the improve wealth & protection of the country." Marijuana has a big flip side that can increase our economy. Marijuana will increase Americans profits greatly. About half of all U.S legalized marijuana giving us true answers how it has benefitted. Legalizing marijuana gives us a big profit and giving people better jobs, Denver is a good test case. An article the Freedom Beat cited, “In February, 1938, Popular Mechanics called Hemp a 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a money crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars if not more.” Legalize marijuana has and will boost the economy more and
Marijuana is a naturally grown plant that has beneficial properties and the ability to create textiles, paper products, and other goods. Marijuana is currently illegal in many states in the United States. The legalization of Marijuana will produce enormous tax revenue, reduce crime, give us a renewable resource, and give sick and suffering patients a new effective medicine. The legalization of Marijuana in the United States would both benefit the well-being of its citizens as well the economy.
The United States has, in some states, legalized the use of marijuana. Studies done have shown that it helps the state economies grow, and has given the states millions of dollars in tax revenue. So imagine the money that would be saved if marijuana were legalized in the whole country. The United States would benefit from a stronger economy, increased jobs, reduced prison costs, lower medicinal marijuana prices, and the availability of medical marijuana to the people who need it.
Taxing marijuana would be an asset to this country’s economy by helping them with the debts, rebuilding schools, and lowering crime rates. According to Matt Ferner of the Huffington Post, since Colorado legalized marijuana the state has made $600 million in combined wholesale and retail sales (Ferner). This can be great because the United States could pay off much of its debts. That amount of money was earned through a 25 percent tax on retail purchasing, including a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax (Ferner). Another asset of taxing marijuana is that the government can give some of the money to the public. Some of this money can go to schools, hospitals, and medical treatments. The rest can go to creating new
The legalization of marijuana is going to be beneficial to all in the U.S. because they will either be affected directly or indirectly from it. One reason why we should legalize marijuana is to help stop the Drug Cartels from illegally importing marijuana to this country and making millions every year from it, all of our currency is being exported out without being counted, which again is illegal. Legalizing marijuana will also benefit people with certain medical problems; in a way you can save lives if you legalize it. Now a day we all know how bad our National Debt is; if you legalize marijuana you can help with the debt by taxing on marijuana. Legalizing marijuana can benefit everyone in America.
Legalizing and regulation marijuana can bring cash crop under the criminal justice law, bring in jobs, medical use, and overall create economic opportunities to The United States of America.
There are many ways that marijuana would benefit the economy if legalized. An economy benefits when there is a healthy flow of monies within. This means internal spending by citizens on items of their choice. Citizen spending is what keeps the economy going. The use of citizen?s tax money would also be greatly affected. Tax money would be allocated more properly and used in more strategic ways. The taxation of items such as legalized marijuana brings a flow of money into the economy that would otherwise not be there. This increase of government funds would allocate more money to federal programs that are in financial need. Federal programs include public education, health education, treatment programs, etc. When the public?s way of
The legalization of marijuana could possibly create annual tax revenue of 2.4 billion if taxed normally, and 6.2 billion if the government used similar tax rates that are currently used for alcohol and tobacco sales. (Miron, 2005)
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
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, also known as cannabis, is a plant used to produce hemp fiber and as a psychotropic drug. There are many ways to consume the plant, but most often, it is consumed through a cigarette. Over many years, marijuana has been looked at as a gateway drug and something attached to violence and addiction. Users of marijuana have been stereotyped to abuse the drug to get high rather than to medicate their bodies. The hip-hop and hippie communities shed a light on marijuana that gave society a good excuse to view it negatively. Many have overlooked the benefits of marijuana by being blinded by the stereotypes society has created. Despite the negative outlooks, there are an abundance of benefits that using
Casual marijuana advocates often overstate the economic impact from legalization. Some even make a ludicrous suggestion that it would pay off the national debt. Legal marijuana, just like any other single solution, can’t fix our national debt. It was $16.4 trillion when it reached the debt ceiling on December 31, 2012. Nevertheless, there clearly are no perfect forecasts for determining the potential economic impact of the legal marijuana industry in the future. However, according to the available data, approximately 1 in every 10 Americans smokes marijuana at least once a year. Among them, about 24 million Americans smoke marijuana on a regular basis. CNBC offered a moderate estimate that a fully legal marijuana industry would generate $16-20 billion in taxes and $40 billion in sales annually. Clearly legal marijuana wouldn’t be the economic miracle as some people expect it to be, but it still represents a massive economic impact. As the former Senator Everett Dirksen reportedly once said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
More than 800,000 people are put under arrest for marijuana for merely possessing marijuana and the rest were for selling or assembling marijuana. When marijuana use is legalized less and less people will be arrested for the right reasons. Also, it would be decreasing prices due to greater opportunity or quantity. Marijuana is great demand, hence the increasing the economy because more and more people will purchase them if it was legalized. Furthermore, we can look at new tax revenues and compare marijuana to tobacco. When marijuana is legalized, authorities can start taxing marijuana just like tobacco and start earning from it as well. The legalization of marijuana can also arrange more job opportunities especially when it comes
When people invest in this business, there are high chances of earning great profits as this business is expected to grow in the future. Demand for marijuana would never decline as it has many medical benefits. Legalizing the production and sale of Marijuana can be beneficial for the U.S economy. In the nations where the production and sale of marijuana is illegal, people would import marijuana from the United States. This would help expand the business and at the same time, there would be increase in imports. This would help increase the GDP and improve the living standards of
Some people have been in the same situation at a party where they see a group gathering outside. The smell of the strange herb along with kids laughing and talking as they take turns passing and hitting a bowl or a joint is now common. Then those kids would turn around and ask the others the same dreaded question “Do you want a hit?” Maybe some say yes, maybe they say no, maybe they smoke every day, maybe they never will, or maybe they have to if they want to live. Adolescents and adults have access to marijuana as it is easily available behind the scenes these days and it’s about time everybody knows the truth about the uses, effects, purposes, and cures about the devil’s harvest- Marijuana. The use of Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes is