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pros and cons of marijuana legalization
issue concerning war against drugs
issue concerning war against drugs
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Legalization is a much-debated topic that has been a minor issue up until the past few years at least for marijuana. Apart from marijuana though are other schedule I and schedule II drugs that can be made legal under the right circumstances. The war on drugs has been has been a complete failure despite the increase in funding that our government is provided. Also the drug policies themselves are flawed. However, with law enforcement and the government not giving up entirely with the war on drugs it will be a while before they realize the pros far outweigh the cons. Legalizing drugs for both recreational and medicinal use will provide the government another source of revenue, will lessen the overcrowding in the judicial system, erase the drug and crime relation, and may ironically turn people away from doing drugs.
Legalization will bring many benefits to the US government one of which being a gigantic source of revenue. If the government were to begin enforcing drug laws less and tax the drugs that will be legalized the government could claim approximately ten billion dollars at the least. This number could climb depending on the amount of sales with the sin tax as well as when the government decided to pull the plug completely on enforcing drug policies. There are two different views people can look at for how this might come to fruition. A libertarian model, which closely resembles the libertarian party, where there is very limited government except for a few cases mainly dealing with sale to a minor; the other model being the government would manage how the drugs are made as well as the sales. In between these two models lies an approach that will be successful (Nadelmann).
It is one in which the government...
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... will be many benefits that not only citizens of the US will see but also the government. The government will bring in more revenue through the distribution of these drugs for both recreational and medicinal use. Jails and prisons will not be as crowded as they are now and the public will not have to pay as much money to the government to build more jails and prisons. Selling or consuming drugs will no longer be seen as a crime unless of course someone was to sell to a minor therefore. Finally, even if drugs are made legal there are plenty of people who still will not engage in the risky behavior and those who will quit altogether because they will find that consuming drugs the legal way will be boring. Hopefully our government will realize the pros far outweigh the cons and will legalize sooner rather than later.
(Nadelmann) (Schaffer Library of Drug Policy)
Legalizing the use of soft drugs would help bolster the U.S. economy, partially because the government would have the ability to tax these drugs. This includes marijuana used for medicinal purposes, which, according to a 1995 article in The Journal of the American Medical Association, can “counteract the toxicity of chemotherapy, treat migraines, minimize pain, and treat moderate wasting syndrome in AIDS patients.” The economy would also benefit from the legalization of drugs because fewer drug offenders would crowd the prisons, and the government could spend the money they saved from this reduction in prison populations on other public expenses. With drug busts running at 750,000 cases a year nationwide, (mostly for marijuana,) prisons are bulging, and those imprisoned for drug-related crime account for only a fraction of America’s drug users. In Elliot Currie’s essay, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,”...
There have been 20 million arrests since 1965 for the possession of marijuana, also known as cannabis. The amount of crime and arrests for possessions of the illicit drug has increased due to the prohibition. Cannabis was a major cash crop for the industrial production prior to its illegalization. It has been estimated that the United States spends approximately $7.7 billion each year to prohibit the use of marijuana alone. Currently the number of people incarcerated is six to ten times higher than European countries (NORML). Today the United States wastes billions of dollars to fight against the war on drugs, for the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people, and etc. It’s also brought a raise of violence and crime relating to the dealing and production of the drug. Marijuana should be legalized because its ban has been futile in preventing illicit production, regulating it would allow new development in medical treatments, and would give a boost to the economy. The illegalization of the drug has a much more negative impact then it does well, in fact it’s pushed drug cartels to produce more of the drug because of the high demand and the millions of dollars they’ll make from profits.
Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While marijuana has a small amount of negligible effects to its users, the herbal drug more importantly has remarkable health benefits, and legalizing one of the oldest and most commonly known drugs would redirect America’s future with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages.
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...
Making drugs legal will reduce massive amounts of money spent on enforcement every year. The MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) estimates that marijuana consumers cost taxpayers more than $7 billion dollars annually (MPP). Year after year, money is thrown away trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs into our country. When one drug lord is caught, two show up somewhere else to take their place. For every drug bust, four more make it through to the United States. For example, in his book Intoxication, Ronald K. Siegel talks about the very first significant international anti-drug campaign: Operation Intercept, the first major assault on marijuana use. This operation captured 493 drug runners at the Mexican border. Very few drugs were confiscated, and no change in marijuana use inside the United States was recorded (280). Today, billions of dollars are spent each year to combat drug use, but no real concise victories are evident. Drugs are still bought, sold, and used everyday. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that the number of first-time marijuana users in 1998 was 2.3 million. This number increased significantly compared to 1.4 million in 1989 (DEA). These figurers alone show that money spent on enforcement has had no effect. President Ronald Reagan said it best, "Despite continuing expressions of determination, America's war on drugs seems nowhere close to success.
However, legalization will be profitable to global economies in two ways. It will allow for money spent on drug law enforcement to be spent more wisely and will increase revenue. There have been escalating costs spent on the war against drugs and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation. Every year in the United States, ten billion dollars are spent on enforcing drug laws alone. Drug violators accounted for about forty percent of all criminals in federal prisons (Rosenthal 1996).
For years the United States of America has been waging a war against drugs. The U.S federal government has spent well over fifteen billion dollars annually on combating illegal drugs. Marijuana in this day and age seems to be one of the most controversial drugs, and is at the forefront of the discussion boards on whether or not one should legalize the drug. Marijuana should be legalized not only because the government could tax it while reducing the national deficit, but also because some patients need it for medicinal purposes, and this will lead to a reduction in the crime rate by removing the taboo from the drug itself.
Introduction The legalization of marijuana is considered a controversial issue, something that can benefit people for medical purposes, but what about recreationally? Marijuana has been illegal since 1937, but there’s never been a bigger push for legalization. There are several reasons why it is illegal, because of government propaganda and big industry not wanting to lose money, but this will be discussed later. The purpose of this paper is to educate, theorize, and discuss various aspects of marijuana, such as its history, development, and the advantages and disadvantages of marijuana legalization. Finally, my personal reflection on legalization and marijuana in general will be discussed.
Let’s begin with US revenue gain that would occur from legalizing marijuana. Marijuana Offers Extreme US revenue boost in several different ways. Shouldn’t we want to collect revenue due to taxation other then criminalization? Marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should inst...
Drugs will even become safer for those who are willing to use them. Government regulations on drug quality will make the drugs more pure, and potent, taking the harmful additives that some drug makers put in. Like cigarettes, warnings would probably be posted on drug packages stating “The use of crack may be harmful to your health.” As well as on windows of the stores that sells the drugs. An age limit to buy drugs would probably be 21. Clean, sterile needles would also be provided to heroin users and stop the spread of diseases such as AIDS from contaminated and dirty needles.
The first major benefit that will come from the legalization of drugs will the increase in jobs. Creation of new jobs will take place in the manufacturing industry, sales industry, and marketing industry due to the increased demand for drugs. The manufacturing industry will experience a boost because some drugs will need to be mixed with other substances to become other drugs, such as crack cocaine. The sale industry will expand from the legalization of drugs because the drugs will not sell themselves. They are the same.
Marijuana has more benefits of it being federally legalized than keeping it illegal. The amount of money that can be generated from the marijuana plant is astonishing and would really help America’s economy. Also the best way to prevent teenagers and adolescents from using drugs or alcohol is to inform them on the truth. By classifying marijuana a schedule one drug and cocaine a schedule two the United States government is promoting that cocaine is bad but not as bad when compared to marijuana.
In order to eradicate the drug problem, a public debate is going on to find some solutions to this drug dilemma. It has become a highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation, while others oppose because it will increase the number of drug users and drug related crimes. Marijuana is a drug that is illegal in the United States. This drug, as you know, is bad and causes severe side effects to your brain and body.
The state of Georgia has the highest excise tax on liquor of any state. It also has the lowest tax on gasoline (which is good especially now with gas prices the highest ever). If drugs were legal, the government could place such an excise tax on them. In addition to freeing up money used for their prohibition, this extra money could fund the real problems of America, and eliminate our national debt quite quickly.
Leading to an increase in drug experimentation by the youth and an increase in crack houses, where most laced drugs are produced. There is a reason why these drugs are illegal and it 's because of their harmful effects and the damage they cause the human body. Drug users, are often recognized as people who commit crimes, murder, rape, and other violence including burglary. With drug laws, it creates a fear in people of getting in trouble with the law and is a major reason to not use drugs. The legalization of drugs would not lower crimes rates as there would be more and more addicts as well as large black markets for drugs. Although these drug users commit crimes to obtain these drugs, it is obvious to see they would still be committing these crimes to obtain the drug even if it is legalized. Either way, a crime is still being committed they just have an easier way to steal the drug from someone. Which means the crime rates would start to rise, leading to the population of prisoners increasing, which also leads to the government spending more money on organizing jail facilities to hold these prisoners. One state in particular where marijuana is now legal, has started to come to the realization that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to leaglize this drug. Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Florida and President of SAM points out that,