¶ … Marijuana Legalization
I have no doubt in my mind that a majority of Americans hold a stand similar to mine; that the criminalization of marijuana is indeed costing us more than its legalization would. Those sitting on the fence, or holding a contrary opinion have probably not thought of it this way; marijuana is the country's largest cash crop, and legalizing it will do nothing but yield a streak of economic benefits including job creation and economic opportunity expansion in the formal rather than the underground market, the diversion of the scarce resources that go to marijuana-related law enforcement efforts to more productive activities that could better the society's well-being, etc. (Ruschman, 2004) . It is time marijuana was taken off the system of criminal justice, and brought into the legal arena in a manner similar to tobacco and alcohol.
One may ask; to what extent has the criminalization of marijuana controlled its production and use? To a very small extent, the answer would be, because there is not much to show, in terms of tangible effect, for the 75 years that criminal penalties aimed at preventing its use have been in place. Not only is marijuana grown all over the world today, but has higher prevalence rates than cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco, attracting more than 25 million new users every year (High Times, 2014). The effectiveness of marijuana as a prevention policy, as has been claimed...
Legalizing Marijuana It costs significant money for governments to catch buyers and dealers of drugs in the black market, arrest them, file cases against them, and then keep them in jail. Hence, the war on drugs is a long, risky, expensive undertaking. (Boylstein, 2003) This spending is considerably high when talking about the drug marijuana, as it is one amongst largely consumed drugs as it does not cause much harm to
Legalizing Marijuana in Florida The dividing lines have been drawn once again in the state of Florida with a controversial issue being put forth in the limelight. There is an initiative in the State Legislature to introduce a bill that will decriminalized and legalized the prescription and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Led by Florida Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, who "is introducing a bill that would put legalizing marijuana
Marijuana users are accustomed to consuming the substance even with the fact that they risk greatly from the act. "Few people claim that they would change the amount they used if marijuana were legalized (Johnston, Bachman, & O'Malley, 1981). A poll of 1,400 adults found that over 80% claimed that they would not try the drug even if it were legal (Dennis, 1990)" (Earleywine 232). Numerous people who have
Legalize Marijuana Legalizing marijuana In this era of spiraling medical costs, if there is a product that has never caused any deaths, has proven benefits, and is inexpensive, it should not only be legal, but should be aggressively pursued by governmental agencies to aid in the health care crisis. Would you be interested in a substance that could alleviate nausea and vomiting for most cancer and chemotherapy patients? How about a way
Miron (qtd in Lazarus 2006) calculated that the legalization of marijuana could yield around $2.4 billion annually, if the substance is taxed at the level of most goods. The revenues could rise to $6.2 billion annually, if marijuana is taxed on the same level as cigarettes and alcohol. Because of the potential economic windfall that could come as a result of repealing this "bad public policy," more than 500 economists
On the other hand, marijuana is still perceived as an addictive substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. It has been historically linked as a gateway drug to more serious substance abuse such as meth, heroin, or cocaine. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that marijuana is the most widely used and abused illicit drug in the nation among both youth and adults; in fact 42% of high school
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