Economic Benefits of the Legalization of Marijuana
The Economic Benefits of the Legalization of Marijuana
Crimes related to marijuana have gotten out of control in our society. With more than 750,000(MPP.org) people arrested annually on charges related to marijuana it's clear that a change needs to occur. A clear choice would be to crack down on the sale and manufacture of marijuana, but the smarter choice would be to legalize it. There are many economic benefits to the legalization of marijuana. The economic benefits that producers and consumers would receive are numerous, the tax that could be placed on a product would make the government a main benefactor as well, as well as the money saved on the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. The first argument for the legalization of marijuana would be that of the economic benefits that producers and consumers would receive. Farmers would be the most likely to start producing marijuana because it is easy to grow and maintain. One source estimates that "marijuana would currently cost on $1.35 lbs. to grow [ ] with the sale being anywhere from $30 to $700 per ounce." (Walters p. 4). This is a huge profit margin that the producers could in turn receive. In an economic view, the legalization of marijuana would attract entrepreneurs to the new market, thus flooding the market with more growers and more product. An increase in product would drive the cost of a product down, thus saving the consumer a large amount of money. In a real market situation, $30 per ounce (or $480 per lbs.) would probably be driven down to near its production cost. $30 per ounce equates to about $0.09 per lbs. If producers were to decide on a relatively fair price after production, shipping, and retail costs - say $1.00 per ounce it would give the consumer a savings of $29.00 per ounce (or $464 per lbs.) So the economic savings for the consumer are very clear, and the profit for the producers would be very large too. "There
Crimes related to marijuana have gotten out of control in our society. With more than 750,000(MPP.org) people arrested annually on charges related to marijuana it's clear that a change needs to occur. A clear choice would be to crack down on the sale and manufacture of marijuana, but the smarter choice would be to legalize it. There are many economic benefits to the legalization of marijuana. The economic benefits that producers and consumers would receive are numerous, the tax that could be placed on a product would make the government a main benefactor as well, as well as the money saved on the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. The first argument for the legalization of marijuana would be that of the economic benefits that producers and consumers would receive. Farmers would be the most likely to start producing marijuana because it is easy to grow and maintain. One source estimates that "marijuana would currently cost on $1.35 lbs. to grow [ ] with the sale being anywhere from $30 to $700 per ounce." (Walters p. 4). This is a huge profit margin that the producers could in turn receive. In an economic view, the legalization of marijuana would attract entrepreneurs to the new market, thus flooding the market with more growers and more product. An increase in product would drive the cost of a product down, thus saving the consumer a large amount of money. In a real market situation, $30 per ounce (or $480 per lbs.) would probably be driven down to near its production cost. $30 per ounce equates to about $0.09 per lbs. If producers were to decide on a relatively fair price after production, shipping, and retail costs - say $1.00 per ounce it would give the consumer a savings of $29.00 per ounce (or $464 per lbs.) So the economic savings for the consumer are very clear, and the profit for the producers would be very large too. "There