The efforts to make marijuana a prescription drug was in act in 1972 by NORML and worked its way through the government. Twenty-eight states have legalized marijuana to this date. That means more than half of the country has legalized it, those that have are doing just fine. Making marijuana a regular thing makes society safer. Legalization helps us better understand marijuana's health effects.With the recent legalization of medical marijuana in 28 states, more and more people are starting to turn to marijuana as a treatment option for various reasons.
Marijuana is definitely not risk free. Its smoke has carcinogens but it's less harsh than many over the counter prescriptions. There is also no recorded deaths from overdose. Marijuana can stimulate appetite, but those
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For twenty years, medical cannabis has been providing relief to people all over as the government and most other states have been slowly recognizing the health benefits of marijuana. Now, states are finally moving forward towards legalization, some politicians are thinking about making changes to the federal law. Public opinion has changed in favor of legalization for medical purposes and recreational purposes. The United States government could save up to $14 billion per year by legalizing cannabis. Prisons around America spend about $1 billion on marijuana related incidents.By taxing marijuana it could put money back into our government when people buy it. America taxes anywhere from $10-14 billion per year, money that could be spent on education and health. Almost 8.2 million people were arrested for weed related crimes between 2001 and 2010, 52% of the drug arrests were pot related incidents. Of the 8.2 million arrests, only 6% were for sale marijuana. Most people were going to jail for possessing the
To add, recreational marijuana is taxable! Therefore, it is money that can be put into our communities. Recreational marijuana as intimidating as some may think, can actually benefit our community in many ways. To begin, many believe legalizing marijuana would cause crime to increase, on the contrary legalizing it will lead to a decrease of crime. Imagine that getting your hands on marijuana was as accessible as cigarettes in a gas station, how many illegal cigarette dealers have been punished in jail with the maximum sentence for selling cigarettes?
and article ‘Potential Tax Revenue from a Regulated Marijuana Market: A Meaningful Revenue Source’ by Michael R. Caputo and Brian J. Ostrom states, “The demand for marijuana has created a multi-billion dollar industry.” If the Drug Enforcement Administration would allow marijuana to become legal, it could potentially boost our economy due to taxation, create employment through marijuana dispensary collectives as well as stores, and provide another source of revenue in each state. “... A consumption of 13,600 metric tons would entail 38 million people smoking one gram each, 365 days a year ” The concept of taxing marijuana would essentially be exactly the same as how the government taxes cigarettes or alcohol today.
But the financial benefits of legalization go beyond taxing the sale of marijuana and keeping drug money out of the hands of criminals. All across the nation, wherever the drug is illegal, state and local governments spend enormous sums of money on the enforcement of marijuana laws, the prosecution of offenders, and incarceration of the convicted. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the American taxpayer spends $40 billion per year on the administrative costs associated with the criminalization of marijuana (Becker). On the state level, we can again look to the example of Colorado. Conservative estimates by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy show that legalization will save the state $40 million per year by no longer administering marijuana laws (Drug Policy Alliance).
More positive results can aspire from its legalization and restricting it raises many challenges. From a business standpoint, it is not cost effective to keep it illegal and legalizing marijuana can bring revenue for the government. The amount of money the U.S. spends on criminalizing marijuana users can be used to target the real criminals. Marijuana is not like the other drugs and its use for recreational purposes should be allowed. Marijuana continues to offer us remedies for many ailments and it should not be treated as a drug, rather a medicine or for the pursuit of happiness.
Currently, people who are serving jail time for possession are costing the american courts just roughly around 7.5 billion to 10 billion dollars prosecuting individuals yearly. In cities like Atlanta Ga, Senators have proposed a law that decriminalizes posesion up to one ounce, which in return has proven to be beneficial to the city as well as the individuals .If marijuana was decriminalized, that would mean that less people would be put into jail, and our law enforcement resources would be able to deal with more serious crimes that is putting the public at
Marijuana is also relatively easy to reproduce so running out of the medical marijuana treatment would be very unlikely. Also, it costs states millions of dollars to keep fighting the legalization so it would save lots of money if it was legalized.
If marijuana is regulated and taxed properly, it can generate millions of dollars that can help pay the debt of the US and/or help cities rebuild a better infrastructure. Marijuana has become the third most popular drug in the US behind alcohol and tobacco. It is a renewable resource and is not just used for smoking; it can be used to make paper, oils, and cloth. Every year millions of tax dollars are being spent to enforce marijuana laws. If these laws were repealed and marijuana was legalized, we would not only make money from the marijuana, but we would also be using a lot less money to enforce marijuana laws.
It may also be useful against epilepsy, alcoholism and multiple sclerosis, and as a sedative or antidepressant. And compared with many other drugs, it is relatively safe Marijuana boosters want it legalized immediately for widespread medical use. That would be premature the need now is for accelerated research to define its medical value. Yet progress has been greatly slowed by the drug's lingering notoriety. Marijuana is now classified under Federal drug laws in the most restrictive category ore reserved for highly dangerous.
Marijuana has been legalized in Eight states for recreational use, also several state in the United States legalizing medical marijuana. The U.S. needs to legalize the use and selling of it in shops for recreational and medical use. According to Medical Daily, “8.4 million people use marijuana every day” (6). If that many people use it everyday then the U.S. should legalize its use. People over the age of twenty-one can use cannabis in eight states for recreational, it can also be used for medication and it is put into some products for additional benefits.
Unlike Tobacco and Alcohol, Marijuana is a non-addicting substance. There is a substantial amount of evidence proving that Alcohol is far more dangerous than Marijuana, yet it is still legal here in California for those over the age of 21. Alcohol not only impairs your judgement, but can make someone violent and can eventually kill you if you drink to much. While on the other hand Marijuana makes you mellow, joyful, and hungry, which sounds a lot less harmful than the effects of
Starting from 2003, every year more than 750,000 people have been arrested for marijuana possession in the U.S. (Bureau of Justice Statistics). Marijuana’s status as illegal is a parasite on our economy as a whole as well as on individuals involved with it, but if it were made legal, we wouldn’t only stop losing money but instead actually start to gain
The prohibition of Marijuana has caused tremendous social expenses and has ultimately failed citizens of the United States. Legalization of this substance has proven in many areas to be beneficial, and by doing so could create jobs, save lives, and save you tax dollars. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 52% of all arrests in 2010 were for marijuana. From 2001 to 2010, of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests, 88% were made due to the civilian simply being in possession of the substance; which is legalized in multiple states. States waste an average of $3,613,969,972 enforcing marijuana laws, which has miserably failed at keeping Americans away from the drug, while an average of 30 million citizens use it every year.
However from the information that I have gathered from many different articles and news pages, the legalization of marijuana would not only be majorly beneficial to the medical field but it would be an excellent boost for our economy by better spending our money on things that matter. Like repairing our schools, and
Also it can help save our government a fortune. Recently, many politicians support the legalization of marijuana, such as, Bernie Sanders and Gary Johnson. If people of high political class supports marijuana usage shouldn't we view it as adequate. Making marijuana legal will fix problems for the United States, help the government
42% of America has at least tried smoking weed and only 9% of those people are clinically dependent. To die of an overdose on Marijuana you’d have to smoke 1,500 pounds in 15 minutes. Medical Marijuana type compound is proven to freeze cancer cells. The World health organization found that “3.3 million deaths in 2012 were attributed to alcohol consumption. And recently, a comparative assessment published in Scientific Reports found alcohol to be 114 times more deadly than marijuana.”