Cannabis and Marijuana
Legalization of Marijuana
Marijuana was first used for medicinal purposes dating back as early as the 1600’s. However, a law was passed in 1930, which banned the substance. Since then we have been fighting a never-ending war on drugs that has estimated to be over a trillion dollar failure, and we have nothing to show for it. There are many different takes on legalizing marijuana nation-wide but some states are not convinced yet. There are two main views on legalizing cannabis. One is the government view, which believes if marijuana was taxed like alcohol and tobacco it could yield close to 50 billion in tax revenue annually. Along with this, legalizing the drug would save the U.S. about $41 billion a year in enforcing the drug laws, and using that for education and health. The other view would be the medicinal use side of it. Proponents of medical marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. The government should legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use because it will create tax revenue, help patients, and we will be done fighting an everlasting war.
$42 billion dollars is what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year. If marijuana was legal, the money generated would be able to be used for other things like giving every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise and use what's left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit. Or use it towards community or environmental projects to help the natural resources we use every day. “Marijuana in the U.S. is a $113 billion dollar business” (Gettman). It costs the average prison $40,000 to house an inmate for a year. If you multiply the number of marijuana related prisoners times $40,000 a year that is over $29 billion a year spent on prisoners alone. “Of the billions of dollars a year we spend to enforce, it has accomplished little or
Marijuana was first used for medicinal purposes dating back as early as the 1600’s. However, a law was passed in 1930, which banned the substance. Since then we have been fighting a never-ending war on drugs that has estimated to be over a trillion dollar failure, and we have nothing to show for it. There are many different takes on legalizing marijuana nation-wide but some states are not convinced yet. There are two main views on legalizing cannabis. One is the government view, which believes if marijuana was taxed like alcohol and tobacco it could yield close to 50 billion in tax revenue annually. Along with this, legalizing the drug would save the U.S. about $41 billion a year in enforcing the drug laws, and using that for education and health. The other view would be the medicinal use side of it. Proponents of medical marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. The government should legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use because it will create tax revenue, help patients, and we will be done fighting an everlasting war.
$42 billion dollars is what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year. If marijuana was legal, the money generated would be able to be used for other things like giving every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise and use what's left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit. Or use it towards community or environmental projects to help the natural resources we use every day. “Marijuana in the U.S. is a $113 billion dollar business” (Gettman). It costs the average prison $40,000 to house an inmate for a year. If you multiply the number of marijuana related prisoners times $40,000 a year that is over $29 billion a year spent on prisoners alone. “Of the billions of dollars a year we spend to enforce, it has accomplished little or