Secondly, the monetary gain of its legalization for most has been productive to say the least. For example, Denver Colorado is on track to more than triple the marijuana tax revenue this year alone. $44 million was collected in 2014. In July 2015, 73.5 million was collected, while 19.6 million went to schools. A place such as Chicago could really use the legalization to help with the school system infrastructure issues they have. With a deficit of over 1.1 billion marijuana sales could alleviate both the conditions of schools themselves, as well as provide more funding. Funding for programs designed to give at risk youth outlets to release some of the frustrations of living in such deplorable conditions. The same monetary profit could be used to help secure safer neighborhoods and first responders to police. That would save the head to outsource services providing stabilization of important economic responsibility of the state. Another important aspect to consider when pondering marijuana legalization would be whether certain liberties are being upheld. For example, freewill constitutes that the government cannot dictate the freewill of individuals who expose themselves despite the risks involved. There are several harmful things our government knows is bad for us. We are legally allowed to consume them anyway, because we take that risk personally. Why does the same not apply for marijuana? Cigarettes contains several harmful ingredients. However labeling
Beyond the economic growth through new jobs, taxes on marijuana will also provide the government tremendous revenue. With the legalization comes an increased demand for marijuana, which will allow the government to raise taxes. According to Jason Shubnell, “Colorado recently reported $2 million in tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales for the month of January.” Such a large sum of money collected in only a month of sale shows how profitable the legalization of marijuana in U.S. states would be. The possible heavy taxation, in combination with the economic gains from new jobs, is an adequate reason alone to legalize marijuana. Not only that, but the government will save a large amount of money because the amount of funding needed to hire police to enforce drug-related laws will no longer be as big of an expense. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, Washington state “is now
This discussion is not new. Cannabis. Pot. Grass. Mary Jane. 420. Ganga. Herb. Joint. Blunt. Skunk. Marijuana. Weed. With over two dozen different names, call it whatever you fancy. The battle for legalization throughout the United States continues to be a controversial topic. As more states choose to legalize weed, more medical research in the United States is beginning to unfold. Although the views of marijuana as a deviant drug are changings rapidly, our medical research on marijuana is still lagging due to the lasting legacies of anti-weed drug policies and misinformation about what Cannabis does to the body. In 2013, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, made a documentary entitled
Marijuana is illegal in 48 of the 50 states, but the drug will most likely be legal in the near future. The heated debate on whether the “illicit drug” should be legalized in all 50 states keeps resurfacing. The most popular recreational drug in the United States today is marijuana. The formal name for marijuana is Cannabis but it also goes by a number of other street names including bud, grass, weed, reefer, ganja, hemp, and herb. “In 2011, more than 18 million Americans aged 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month” That is a very large amount of people that have used the drug even before it was legalized in two states. The government has thrown unproven facts about the harmful effects of marijuana to the people to scare them. The United States government has stated that Cannabis does cause lung cancer and includes many carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer. Scientists and researchers have proven the exact opposite considering the drug is now used in many cancer treatments. With this being said, marijuana is not a perfect medicine either. Some of the harmful effects include posing a major irritant to the lungs and increased chance of a heart attack. There are always alternatives to work around these harmful effects. For example, marijuana can be eaten which would cause no irritation to the lungs in any way. As far as the increase chance of heart attack goes, any exercise raises the heart rate just as marijuana does. This means that you
When most people are asked about their opinion of marijuana, not very many actually have a problem with the drug itself. The driving force behind their decision to be against marijuana is based mostly on the fact that it is illegal. TIME magazine held a poll on their website in which they asked their readers if marijuana should be legalized. Given that TIME’s website is not likely to be a full representation of ALL their readers, nor the rest of the people in the United States, an astonishing 80% of the poll agreed that the legalization of marijuana should be put into effect (St. Pierre 1). One philosopher who would probably side with this 80%
Marijuana (cannabis, hemp, or hash) has been argued upon amongst the United States for over fifty years. As well its various functions, both therapeutic and in trade, our government insists on preserving the status quo that the development, possession and use of marijuana is criminal despite the evidence that the legalization of marijuana would have a positive influence on America.
The 2016 elections and the subsequent legalization of recreational marijuana in California, Nevada, and Massachusetts show how constantly evolving attitudes regarding marijuana and regulations pertaining to marijuana practices are. Corresponding with constantly changing attitudes regarding marijuana, users are finding more novel ways to make the most of their plant products. Butane-extracts or butane hash-oil (BHO) products are potent marijuana concentrates (Bell, Slim, Flaten, Wiktor, & Monte, 2015) that require the liquid-gas butane as the catalyst in the process of extracting pure THC from marijuana plant product (Raber & Elzinga, 2015). At-home BHO labs are rising in their popularity (Rosenthal & Downs, 2014) due to the perceived ease
For example In a time of economic recession and government debt of record proportions, it is extremely beneficial to look into the possible advantages of such legislation. By comparing analyzing areas that have already legalized marijuana, such as the Netherlands and some states in the USA, I believe thatS ome areas that would be affected are: employment, the demand for marijuana, taxation rates and potential government revenue, incarceration and enforcement costs, and social issues such as rehabilitation programs. According to my research, the United States government would experience an increase of $25,963,686,520 towards their budget It’s not just the feds, however, who would benefit; legalization would provide top-down economic improvements in local communities, state coffers, and more. In addition to bringing in funds, it would save regional and state governments substantial sums in currently wasted law enforcement dollars. Taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year investigating, arresting, trying, and jailing people for marijuana while failing to decrease its availability or popularity. The cost to communities with heavy arrest rates is staggering in terms of lost wages, job opportunities limited by criminal records, denial of student loans, and strained
“Marijuana—also called weed, herb, pot, grass, bud, ganja, Mary Jane, and a vast number of other slang terms—is a greenish-gray mixture of the dried, shredded leaves and flowers of Cannabis sativa—the hemp plant. Some users smoke marijuana in hand-rolled cigarettes called joints; Marijuana can also be used to brew tea and, particularly when it is sold or consumed for medicinal purposes, “(drug abuse).
In recent years across the United States and in many other nations as well, drug policy and the rationale behind these policies have started to undergo a tremendous shift. This change in public policy is visible to most through the ongoing legislation across America regarding the legalization of medical marijuana in 23 states, and recreational cannabis use becoming legal in 4 states as well (Hanson, 2015). This shift in public policy marks a significant turning point in the view of drugs and drug culture in the United States and reflects increased public knowledge of the less than desirable affects of the “drug war” mentality.
Marijuana is a very controversial drug that spurs a lot of debate as to whether it should be legalized for recreational purposes or not. Most of the states already have legalized marijuana for medical purposes although the federal government prohibits any use of it. Proponents and opponents to this debate each try to argue their side and to show why recreational marijuana should be or should not be legalized but no consensus has been reached due to the complexity of the problem especially resulting from federal and state laws contradictions on the laws pertaining to drug use. Proponents argue that legalizing marijuana would increase revenue, lower burden on law enforcement, increase national security, safeguards individual rights, and make consumption safer. Opponents on the other hand, argue legalizing marijuana would create a gateway for harder drugs like cocaine, emergence of black markets, create new users, cause health problems, and loss of productivity. The issue is thus a headache for the federal and state governments bearing in mind the public support that legalization has been getting over the years. Leaders and mostly governors are at a loss whether to succumb to people’s needs or use their discretion or moral values in deciding whether to support or not. The issue is thus becoming a great concern for law enforcement officers, parents, educators, health care workers, government and the public as
Have you ever wondered why marijuana was illegal? Keeping marijuana illegal costs tax payers a bunch of money, and is not even an effective way to solve the problem of marijuana use. People have the right to choose for themselves if they want to use marijuana or not. The use of marijuana does not affect anyone but the person using it, so why not let them use marijuana if they choose to. According to the Marijuana Legalization Organization, the criminalization of marijuana does not keep young kids from using it and it also does not stop the abuse of marijuana, if anything it makes it worse. If the government would legalize marijuana and let those of a reasonable
The legality of cannabis varies from country to country. Possession of cannabis is illegal in most countries and has been since the beginning of widespread cannabis prohibition in the late 1930s. However, possession of the drug in small quantities had been decriminalized in many countries and sub-national entities in several parts of the world. Furthermore, possession is legal or effectively legal in the Netherlands, Uruguay, and in the US states of Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and Washington as the federal government has indicated that it will not attempt to block enactment of legalization in those states. The federal district of Washington D.C. legalized cannabis for possession and use in 2015 but was blocked by a Congressional rider from instituting commercial sales and taxation. Cannabis is also legal in some U.S cities such as Portland and South Portland, both of which are in Mane. And the United States Department of Justice is allowing all recognized Indian Reservations to regulate the legalization of cannabis, and the laws are allowed to be different from Federal and state law. On 10 December 2013, Uruguay became the first nation in the world to legalize the sale, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis.
The legalization of medical marijuana has been a controversial topic in the medical world for many years. Currently twenty-nine states have passed a bill where some sort of medical marijuana is legal. So why haven’t all states jumped on the majority bandwagon? Many believe that marijuana is a gateway drug and that it can lead to other more dangerous drugs, but for medicinal use it has many useful effects. Several studies have been done to determine the uses marijuana can have on diseases, pain and even psychological disorders. Legalizing medical marijuana not only has many positive medical effects, but it can also be used to help our economy and cut down on drug related crime.
Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.
The decriminalization of marijuana refers to removing drug offences concerning marijuana from criminal law rather than completely legalizing and allowing public use of the drug whether regulated or not. The legalization of Marijuana has been a hot political issue for decades due to its potential medical uses and industrial properties. It is a very important and controversial issue in society today. Although many false claims have been made about cannabis in recent history, the truths are slowly starting to resurface. Unfortunately, these truths are under heavy debate due to the stereotypical view of what people view as the typical “pot smoker.”