Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.

Marijuana is amongst one of the most disputable subjects in political issues. It is the most exploited drug in the United States and can even be around the globe. Marijuana is the main source of substance reliance other than alcohol in the United States. Numerous groups in recent years have come forward and claim that marijuana use has been beneficial with numerous medical conditions. In fact, it has helped numerous people with diseases, for example, Glaucoma, Cancer, and any other physical or mental pain. Medicinal cannabis should be legalized in Florida, but should be regulated accordingly. The clear majority trust that marijuana use would be more beneficial if it was not criminalized but most still believe that the government should keep it as a controlled substance. In 2008, 4 million out of the 7 million individuals, ages 12 and older, characterized as having a reliance or abusing marijuana. This implies that two out of every three Americans experiencing any substance abuse have developed marijuana reliance. The legalization of marijuana in the United States such an issue for so many individuals today. Some believe that marijuana should not be legalized in Florida because of physical health, mental health, effects of driving under the influence of marijuana, and increase in use. Others believe that is it marijuana should be legal because of its harmless if used in moderation, limits of personal freedoms, and potential FDA regulations.

Finally, the main reason millions of Americans want marijuana decriminalized is the positive effects it could have on our despicable economy. First off, decriminalizing marijuana will prevent users from going to prison which will save all us tax payers a whole lot of money. In California alone, the cost of marijuana enforcement can be estimated at over $200 million per year (Gieringer). The money is being spent on state prison, jail costs, court and probation, felony arrests, misdemeanor

Marijuana legalization has been a topic of interest for many years in this country. How to regulate it? Tax it? Where it can be used? By whom? How old? Who can sell it? Federally legal or locally legal? The penalties involving it? All of those are questions that have been debated about and fought over in courts of law. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been jailed for minor crimes involving Marijuana. It has many proven benefits both economically and medically. The times are changing and prohibition against marijuana is starting to fade away. Although still illegal federally, it is now fully legal in eight different states, and medically legal in thirty! This is great progress, but still isn’t enough. Marijuana will soon be legalized. There is plenty of benefits and I am fully for the legalization of marijuana nationwide.

On average, Americans spend about 5 billion dollars on marijuana every year. Thats about how much the country contributes to the purchase of alcohol! The only problem is that the money made from people selling marijuana illegally mostly goes into the pockets of mafias because they contain the largest portion of distribution in the marijuana chain. On average each state spends right at about 1 billion dollars to make sure the marijuana laws are enforced. Asa Hutchinson, the former DEA director mentioned in a CNBC interview that "The cost to fight marijuana is worth it and the people should not mind the cost, but instead look into the benefits it would bring to the country." However, its difficult to see what the benefits really are, because the law enforcement says that criminalizing marijuana will reduce the number of accidents associated with people under the influence of marijuana, reduce violence caused by the intoxication of the drug, and reduce the number of drug dependents. But these arguments to criminalize the use of marijuana are completely unproven. Alcohol also intoxicates the drinker, which obviously causes vehicle accidents. Tobacco poses health risk to smokers after years of continuous use, but they are still considered legal? Therefore, the reasons given to criminalize marijuana aren't very accurate and unproven. It is ironic that the given effects of marijuana are almost the same that made it illegal and are the same

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

“Each year, hundreds of thousands of 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,” ( http://www.wptv.com/news/health/kofi-annan-stop-war-on-drugs). Many citizens use marijuana, illegal and legal. Marijuana use should not be decriminalized because in most states it’s already legal, such as, Columbia, Alaska and Washington, D.C. More decriminalization will decrease funds used to fine, prosecute, and house marijuana users.

Serious, life threatining diseases like cancer have been effectively treated from medical marijuana. It has been known to suppress cancer, help depression, reduce blood pressure, treat glaucoma, alleviate pain and even inhibit HIV, it is also an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. “The late Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a former national administrator of the U.S. government's marijuana research programs, appeared in a film about the business of marijuana prohibition shortly before his 2007 death called The Union… ‘After dealing with about 10,000 patents in the last 15 years, I'd say about 200 different medical conditions respond favorably to cannabis,’ Mikuriya said” (Smith). Marijuana is the future of medicine; it will save countless lives without the serious risk of taking others.

The first benefit to the legalization of marijuana would be the decreased spending on law enforcement. Many of America’s jails are filled to the brim with people who got long and unfair sentences for possession of the drug. Part of the

     Since 1937, the US government has been waging war against marijuana users. So much time has been spent on mere drug offenders while rapists and murderers walk the streets raping and murdering. According to the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 70-plus million Americans have admitted to smoking marijuana at least once in their lifetime. It is a harmless source of recreation for millions of people around the world. It has also been proven that marijuana helps to relieve stress. Furthermore, there is absolutely no proof that smoking marijuana can make a person stupid or numb or affect a child’s score on a test. Some believe that the legalization of marijuana would result in increased usage or act as a gateway to harder drugs. Marijuana is legal for

Prohibition hasn 't stopped the use and domestic production of marijuana so it 's time everyone faced the facts. Marijuana should be legal because punishment such as prohibition or incarceration does not help the country in any way shape or form but in return causes a lot of problems. There is no true good evidence that prohibition or even incarceration decreases the use of drugs or drug dealing. Actually there are many theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase drug use i.e. the "forbidden fruit" effect, and easier accessibility for the youth. Prohibition and incarceration has failed to control the use and domestic production of marijuana. The government has tried to use criminal penalties to prevent marijuana use for more than 75 years and yet marijuana is now being used by over 25 million people every year. Marijuana is currently the largest cash crop in the United States, and marijuana is grown all over the world whether it is grown legal or illegal. Claims that marijuana prohibition is a successful policy are outrageous and very much so unsupported by the facts. Arrests for marijuana possession mostly affect blacks and Hispanics and reinforce many people’s perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities. Blacks account for approximately 13% of the population of the United States and about 13.5%

The unjust imprisonment of American citizens with over-exaggerated jail sentences (pertaining to marijuana charges) is a very big problem in the US. I chose this topic because I had heard so many horror stories of people being sentenced at least 9-10 years on marijuana possession charges just to fill prisons, and it made me extremely upset. What angered me even more was the proof of racially motivated arrests/sentencing in many instances of unjust marijuana related arrests. While these people were “busted” for carrying marijuana and subsequently jailed for decades, rapists get out in 8-9 years on average (Sex Offender Attorney). Even more outrageous, almost all those charged with marijuana possession are sentenced/punished, while only 3 of

Many people claim that there is no known case of people dying due to marijuana. This is a half truth since it’s not the marijuana itself that kills; it’s its side effects. Marijuana causes lung and throat cancer much like cigarettes. As a matter of fact, marijuana is worse for the lungs, since it contains three times as much tar as cigarettes and it’s usually smoked without a filter. They also claim there is not nearly as much crime due to marijuana use compared alcohol. This is also true but for one simple reason. Alcohol is legal and more easily accessible than marijuana. It’s the fact that marijuana is illegal that is keeping these numbers so low. Legalizing marijuana would be like adding fuel to a fire. If marijuana were to be legalized these number are sure to increase.

Many diseases cannot be cured but most doctors can prescribe pain killers that can cause serious internal damage. Marijuana is also used to help ease chronic pain, nausea, muscle spasms, and loss of appetite (Anderson 334). With this knowledge further medical research and testing should be done to help those in need. Marijuana has been used medicinally since the 1800s. Marijuana was recognized as a medicinal drug and was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 to 1942.

In the United States, there have been over 12 million marijuana arrests since 1995. That is one person every 51 seconds being arrested for marijuana charges, 87 percent of the arrests are for possession as opposed to manufacturing or distributing (Marijuana Policy Project 2). We as a country are spending tons of tax dollars on incarcerated individuals who have been arrested for a marijuana charge. 29 states have legalized marijuana in some way, including the District of Columbia. Eight of those states have legalized it recreationally. Those states are more of a guinea pig to see if these