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The Arguments Against Legalizing Marijuana

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Legalizing Marijuana 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 …show more content…

Decriminalizing cannabis can decrease drug violence, gang activity, laced marijuana, and drug cartels. “The knock-on effect is a reduction in levels of drug-related violence. “The cartels are in competition with one another,” Gavrilova explained. “They compete for territory, but it’s also easy to steal product from the other cartels and sell it themselves, so they fight for the product. They also have to defend their territory and ensure there are no bystanders, no witnesses to the activities of the cartel,” (The Guardian). Legalizing weed allows dispensaries to control sales and the government to set restrictions. Taking weed out of the publics discretion allows for organized distribution, taking sales away from drug cartels. Smuggling decreases and overall the war on drugs shrinks since people have safer options to gravitate for. Without this drug related violence, murder has dropped 10%, robbery dropped 19%, general crime dropped 10% in California, and homicides decreased by 41%. Not to mention, keeping an inmate for one day costs an average of $87.61 according to the Federal …show more content…

This amount does not account for anyone that spent more than one day as an inmate. Think Progress reports “Legal weed created 18,005 full-time jobs and added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy last year, an analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group (MPG) shows… Every dollar spent in the industry generates between $2.13 and $2.40 in economic activity.” Colorado regulating marijuana has created an industry for weed allowing the economy to flourish while creating jobs for their people and circulating money into the community and the state’s economy. The tax placed on medical and recreational marijuana generates funds that circulate into the state’s budget allowing for a growing economy. Due to federal regulations, the industry can only grow so large limiting its benefits on job opportunities and revenue. Correspondingly, medical usage was shown to decrease work absence since adults are less likely to be in pain (in terms of headaches and nausea). Along with its basic industry, legalizing weed brings in tourism. “According to data released last year by the Colorado Tourism Office, a record-setting 77.7 million people visited the state in 2015, spending over $19 billion,” (Alternet). The numbers continue to grow and grow each year. Obviously, with the complete legalization, this effect is short term as there is no need to travel in the

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