Marijuana Laws: Prohibition Revisited

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Recommended: Effects of illicit drugs in the society

Ever since the federal criminalization of marijuana in the United States in 1937, there has been a large underground drug market (Paul). Much like how the prohibition of alcohol simply forced imbibers underground, those who chose to partake in marijuana are forced to stay away from the prying eye of the law because of present marijuana laws. This means the drug world is concealed from the average citizen, hiding the dangers of drug deals gone wrong, police shootings, and other dangerous occurrences. In a way this allows the government to mask the fact that their well-funded ‘War on Drugs’ is ineffective, a ‘War’ with a budget of roughly twenty billion dollars; which is not profoundly effective in the curbing the use of drugs (Jillette). If the average citizen does not know what is happening, in the eyes of the American zeitgeist, it is not happening. Criminalizing a harmless drug to cut down on its use simply turns its users into criminals, making the crime rate go up and clogging prisons with non-violent criminals. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and the laws pertaining to it should reflect that.

The legalization of marijuana would let loose the floodgates of free enterprise allowing capitalism to generate marijuana distribution and manufacture corporations which will generate billions upon billions of dollars. Marijuana, if legalized, will almost certainly be taxed by the federal government, generating cash-flow while still keeping prices reasonable. The price of marijuana would also drop exponentially, because the dangers of smuggling and police raids will be eliminated. Legalized marijuana would likely to legal to grow as well, but require some sort of permit, or license to distribute. Just like any other...

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Jillette, Penn, and Teller "War on Drugs." Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Dir.

Christopher Poole. Prod. Patti Duce. Showtime. 22 Apr. 2004.

NORML. 20 Apr. 2009

Paul, Ron. "Ron Paul On Marijuana Legalization." Interview with Joy Behar. Larry King

Live! CNN. 9 Mar. 2009.

Prince, Star. In Pot We Trust. Dir. Star Prince. Prod. Joshua E. Kessler. DVD. Showtime

Networks Inc., 2007.

Rosenfeld, Irven. "Getting Marijuana From The Government." Interview with

Videojug.com. VideoJug.com. 5 Mar. 2008. .

Yurchey, Doug. "The Marijuana Conspiracy | www.tpuc.org." Home | www.tpuc.org.

The People's United Community. 14 Apr. 2009 .

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