The prohibition of marijuana has done little help to the economy. It has not stopped people from using it, and it is very expensive to keep it illegal. Cannabis is currently one of the largest cash crops in the U.S. with annual revenues approaching $14 billion. A 10% tax would yield $1.4 billion in California alone. Legalizing marijuana would provide great financial opportunities for the government, and would be beneficial in many economical and medical ways.
Keeping marijuana prohibited is very expensive; the economy would greatly benefit financially by legalizing and taxing it. A great deal of taxpayer’s money goes into catching those who buy and sell marijuana, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. The money used for these things should be used for much more important things. By legalizing and taxing marijuana not only would the government make money, but they would also save a great deal of money by not having to pay for the cost of prohibition. The prohibition hasn’t stopped many people from buying marijuana so its illegality makes foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development. This can all be avoided by taxing and selling marijuana legally.
Marijuana also has many medical benefits such as stimulating appetite and preventing nausea and vomiting which are common symptoms found in chemotherapy patients. It can also
limit muscle pain and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis and prevents epileptic seizures in many patients. Marijuana is not a lethal drug, and it is safer and much less addictive than legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of alcohol or tobacco. Unlike cigarettes, most marijuana does not contain any harmful and unnatural chemicals such as nicotine and lead 210. In fact, the active compound and marijuana known as THC actually decreases a person’s chance of getting cancer. Each year there are about 82,000 deaths in America caused by alcohol and 434,000 deaths caused by tobacco. There have never been any reported deaths caused specifically by marijuana yet it is still illegal. Clearly, the false accusations and poorly supported statistics that have caused the prohibition of marijuana can be overruled by the real facts and benefits that legalization can provide.
Keeping marijuana prohibited is very expensive; the economy would greatly benefit financially by legalizing and taxing it. A great deal of taxpayer’s money goes into catching those who buy and sell marijuana, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. The money used for these things should be used for much more important things. By legalizing and taxing marijuana not only would the government make money, but they would also save a great deal of money by not having to pay for the cost of prohibition. The prohibition hasn’t stopped many people from buying marijuana so its illegality makes foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development. This can all be avoided by taxing and selling marijuana legally.
Marijuana also has many medical benefits such as stimulating appetite and preventing nausea and vomiting which are common symptoms found in chemotherapy patients. It can also
limit muscle pain and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis and prevents epileptic seizures in many patients. Marijuana is not a lethal drug, and it is safer and much less addictive than legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of alcohol or tobacco. Unlike cigarettes, most marijuana does not contain any harmful and unnatural chemicals such as nicotine and lead 210. In fact, the active compound and marijuana known as THC actually decreases a person’s chance of getting cancer. Each year there are about 82,000 deaths in America caused by alcohol and 434,000 deaths caused by tobacco. There have never been any reported deaths caused specifically by marijuana yet it is still illegal. Clearly, the false accusations and poorly supported statistics that have caused the prohibition of marijuana can be overruled by the real facts and benefits that legalization can provide.
