Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals? (Montopoli, 2009, para. 3)

Need a quick fix to the current economic crisis? How about opening thousands of marijuana dispensaries, supplying tens of thousands of Americans with jobs, and bringing in billions of tax dollars to the government. Is marijuana a threat to our society and our youth? Or is it a plant, capable of easing the pain of the sick, inhibit the growth of cancer cells, rejuvenating the weary, and bringing ease to our stressful lives. The war on drugs has been a failure and it affects us all! The current cost of the war on drugs is 51 billion dollars annually and not only has marijuana use risen but it has become cheaper and easier to get. A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center stated that 48% of adults in America have tried marijuana and 40% had done so in the past three years. Legalizing marijuana would benefit the country in many ways.

People need to open their eyes and stop being ignorant about the fact that marijuana being legal would help the United States in their need of help. Our police have devoted thousands of hours to arresting ,booking and imprisoning marijuana smokers , many of whom are otherwise law-abiding. Unfortunate of these arrests have spent over a decade in prison, for nothing more than possession of cannabis for personal use. These arrests being made take officers away from more urgent issues,(Source C). All the suspects of marijuana possession all end up in court and again without it you have freed up the courts where it can trial other suspects. Again people against marijuana legalization will say court resources will drop due to crime rates rising is completely false and has no evidence to even support that.

This is not to say that those who are already in prison should be released, but it could potentially decrease their sentence if marijuana is decriminalized. Prison should be used for criminals who make the world unsafe for others to live in, such as murderers and rapists. Our taxes contribute to housing and providing for those in prison. By decriminalizing marijuana, we could decrease the amount of people within the prisons, and the amount of money from our taxes that is put towards the

According to Mike Moffat, the legislature has attempted to use criminal punishments to avert the use of marijuana for more than seventy-five years : but then marijuana is presently used by more than 25 million individuals every year, cannabis is now the biggest trade crop in the United State's, and marijuana is developed everywhere throughout the planet. If marijuana legitimized, it would decrease the stream of money from the American economy to global criminal groups. Marijuana’s immortality makes outside development and pirating to the United States greatly beneficial, sending billions of dollars abroad in a private economy while redirecting capital from gainful monetary improvement. Not only will legalizing marijuana help the economy, but it will also help the justice system save money. According to the article, “The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal”, Marijuana is excessively costly for our justice system and should rather be assessed to bolster helpful government programs. Law enforcement incarcerates 750,000 people a year for marijuana ownership. The justice has to pay for discarding the various cases. According to the article, “Why Marijuana Should Be Legal. Logical Arguments for Students Writing Essays.”, The nation could spare billions of dollars consistently if they quit misusing money

Legalizing recreational marijuana in Arizona would save taxpayers in Maricopa county, Arizona’s largest county, $1.3 million a year in jail booking costs alone. This is because police are required to book almost anyone possessing marijuana, no matter how little they have in their possession. In Arizona, where booking someone costs $285.94, taking a person in for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana is a prodigious waste of money. After legalizing recreational marijuana, Colorado’s court cases relating to marijuana dropped from 39,027 in 2011 to 2,036 in 2014. This huge change in just 3 years is a positive improvement that helps to save tax dollars. Nationwide, at least 137,000 people are behind bars for drug possession charges, most awaiting trial. Inmates wait an average of 92 days, or 3 months, for their case to be put on trial, costing taxpayer money without even being convicted. Even though some people who are arrested for possessing marijuana will not be sentenced to jail time, they still cost taxpayer money in the days they have to wait before being tried. In the 2012 fiscal year, 11,533 people were sentenced to prison time for marijuana related crimes. The average sentence was five years. At an average of $31,286 a year, prisoners sentenced in 2012 alone cost American taxpayers over $1.8 billion. Around 13.8% of all inmates are incarcerated because of

Another positive aspect for legalizing the use of marijuana is it would significantly decrease the number of marijuana-related arrests and imprisonments in the United States. Police and court resources would be freed up for more serious crimes. More than 200,000 individuals are incarcerated each year for marijuana possession, as part of the U.S. government's War on Drugs. Decriminalizing marijuana would also eliminate much of the crime associated with the illegal sale and trafficking of marijuana. Moreover, several states allow legal use of marijuana when prescribed by a physician, yet thousands of dispensary owners and patients are arrested every year by the federal government. Legalizing marijuana could bring in more revenue for states, as well as help individuals receive care who may be unable to receive it otherwise. (marijuana today.com). If marijuana was legalized the cost on prosecuting offenders would decrease dramatically. Many consider the War on Drugs an expensive

“Each year, hundreds of thousands or people are around the world who die from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Globally, communities are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies that are not working.” (annan). Many people use marijuana, illegal and legally. Marijuana use should not be decriminalized because in most states it’s already legal, such as, Columbia, Alaska and Washington. It’s going to decrease the funds used to find, arrest, and house marijuana users.

Everyone wants to feel good. No one wants to be in pain, be depressed or anxious. Marijuana is given a bad reputation because people believe it will negatively affects the brain like heroine or the lungs like cigarettes. The main argument against using marijuana is that it lowers intelligence, but that is when it is abused. Many legal substances have long terms effects on the brain and have the power to kill. Drug War Facts reports 33,171 deaths were alcohol induced, 42,249 overdosed on opioids, 480,320 caused by tobacco, and zero related to marijuana. Cannabis can be used in place of medication, would decrease crime rates, and improve the economy. 64% of people believe marijuana should be legalized yet only 9 of 50 states

Many people are incarcerated and shamed throughout our great country simply for buying or possessing a harmless drug. The harmless and relatively weak drug that I am referring to is marijuana. The United States Government as well as state governments spend millions of dollars trying to stop the sale, cultivation and use of marijuana. I strongly feel that it’s time to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use across the nation. As a matter of fact, I also believe that anyone convicted and currently in prison for offenses related to marijuana should be immediately released and have their record wiped clean. However, legal use of marijuana should be for adult’s only and out of public view. Countless money can be saved and taxes on legal

By legalizing marijuana there will be an influx of jobs created due to the demand for dispensaries. Considering the 2.5 million Americans are registered users of medical marijuana, dispensaries alone can make up 2.2 million in one year excluding taxes and owner’s draw and have created thousands of job opportunities just alone in Washington and Colorado. The next pro is the idea that upon legalization there will be a reduction in crime rates. The U.S prisons house up to 6.9 million individuals, 60,000 of those prisoners are there for marijuana use. To house marijuana users it costs the taxpayers around $7-10 billion a year. Approximately 90% of those individuals are in prison for being charged with possession only. The arrests for marijuana possession exceed the arrests for violent crimes including rape and murder. Approximately over 700,000 individuals are arrested each year for marijuana charges. By legalizing marijuana the prisons would have more room for individuals who have committed a violent crime and police forces will be able to do their job and focus on those individuals. This will also give more funding to state agencies and police forces in order to reduce the number of violent crimes. Legalizing marijuana will allow access to health benefits to many individuals, create an increase in job opportunities nationwide providing an influx

“In the past year, the population in America’s jails and prisons has grown to 6.9 million, including those on probation and parole. A 1999 study showed that 60,000 individuals were behind bars for marijuana use. This cost taxpayers $1.2 billion.” (Stevens) There are more arrests made on marijuana charges than violent crimes combined. These violent crimes include assault, rape, robbery and murder.

Since the drug war began, over one trillion dollars in public money has been spent, and it now costs $78.95 per day just to keep one prisoner behind bars (Drug War Today). If drugs such as marijuana were legalized, on the other hand, taxes on the drugs could actually bring a tremendous amount of money into the government instead of out of it. Colorado, which recently legalized marijuana for personal use, brought in $40.9 million from marijuana taxes in just the first ten months of 2014 (Marijuana Legalization in Colorado). According to a study by the Yale Economic Review, legalization of marijuana across the country would result in the government acquisition of as much as $8.9 billion; this is a significant amount of money in a nation with seemingly bottomless economic deficits. Again this is another prime example of why you don’t have to be a user to support this, you just have to be someone who is fiscally smart and doesn’t like to see the government waste

The stigma that marijuana users are hardcore criminals is still practiced in law enforcement today. In the year 2000 alone, there were 734,500 arrests for marijuana possession (Rosenthal, Kubby, and Newhart 16). This over zealous policing of non-violent crimes is consuming too much state and federal money. If marijuana were made legal, police could focus on more serious criminal acts. “Nationwide, there were more arrests for marijuana than there were for arson, manslaughter, rape, stolen property, vandalism, and sex offenses combined…The sheer number or marijuana violators overwhelms some law-enforcement agencies” (Rosenthal, Kubby, and Newhart 20). All of this adds up to that 7.7 billion dollars that could have been used for more worthy causes.

Its too bad we couldn't replace alcohol with marijuana. I would much rather see people in my family as well as my parents smoke pot than drink alcohol. I could go on and on with this forever. You probably are getting the impression that I am a pot head but believe me I am not. This subject just irritates me how we can serve alcohol which makes people violent and go home and beat their wives in front of their kids but the government can't sell a part of a plant that makes people at ease. I feel I'm getting off subject so I'm gonna get back to my point. But, if it were legal, a lot of marijuana dealers who base most or all of their business on marijuana would turn to other drugs such as crack to base their business upon. That is what I mean by the stitch. Because we all know how crack changed the inner cities of America. Crack definitely increase the number of street gangs, deaths, and crimes of all kinds in this country and we all know crack is made from cocaine. So what I am saying, is that instead of trying to shoot at all drugs at once, only go after cocaine. Forget marijuana, make it legal, the government sure made a profit from cigarettes and alcohol. Make a profit from