Marijuana Prohibition In America

Marijuana Prohibition
Marijuana prohibition has been in America since the 1930’s, but prohibition took power and money from the government and gave it to gangs and criminals. There has been a nationwide war against marijuana for years now; yet the drug is still very easy to find and acquire. Prohibition was implemented to reduce the use, selling, and cultivating of the marijuana plant (Venkataraman). Prohibition is largely depended on arrest, incarceration and, the seizure of private property; but it has failed miserably. These days it is more potent, easier to acquire, and cultivated since beginning of the prohibition. Amazingly, marijuana is America’s number one cash crop at 33.8 billion dollars, more than corn (23.3 billion) and wheat
Yet, our government has nothing to show from it, only the price of preventing it. Even though drunk drivers are killing people all over the country, alcohol has not been prohibited since 1933 (Beckett). Health-related costs for alcohol consumers are eight times greater than those for marijuana consumers, according to an assessment recently published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal (Beckett). Cigarettes are very addictive and have many chemicals, but completely legal. Marijuana is completely organic unlike cigarettes and is less addictive. Prohibition is outdated and needs to be ended.
The cost of the prohibition is much more than most people think. A 2005 analysis by Harvard visiting professor Jeffrey Miron estimates that if the United States legalized marijuana, the country would save $7.7 billion in law enforcement costs (Beckett). A cost-benefit analysis of the situation indicates that the country could save roughly $42 billion a year by legally regulating and taxing the marijuana industry (Beckett). The money could go to much more important things to keep our country safer and greatly
Instead of our government growing it and regulating it; criminals and major gangs control the growing and regulating. Giving gangs millions and millions of dollars which is very dangerous. Also prohibition is very similar to the alcohol prohibition which gave infamous gangs and gang members like the mafia and Al Capone their heyday. Marijuana also has its gangs according to some government estimates; Mexican drug cartels make more than 60 percent of their profits from marijuana alone and control distribution networks in more than 250 American cities (Venkataraman). Those gangs are very protective over their profit; even more because it is illegal. A Washington police chief has acknowledged that violence in the marijuana trade is caused by its prohibition, telling station KARE11 last month: "It is illegal to distribute marijuana, so the people distributing marijuana are criminal syndicates that are engaged in very violent activity to protect their turf" (Beckett). The reason the gangs make any money at all from marijuana is that our laws are letting the crop stay in the black market, only our government is to blame that drug cartels have a monopoly on our country’s number one cash crop (Venkataraman). This brings up the question why would our government give that power to the gangs? America is in a national deficit, the money gangs are making instead of our government could help out our country