Marijuana has been a large topic of debate for the past decade. No one can seem to agree on whether or not this drug should be legalized for recreation, legalized for medicinal purposes or legalized at all. As more and more research comes out, marijuana is starting to look like one of the safest, most versatile drugs on the market. In all of recorded history, there has not been one death due to the actual smoking or consumption of marijuana. Now that doesn’t mean people haven’t done stupid things while they’re high, but the short-term consumption of the drug hasn’t directly lead to any deaths so far. There are currently ten states where the adult consumption of marijuana is legalized, and there are surely more to follow. The legalization of marijuana in these states have shown growth in their economies, due to the taxation and the limited law enforcement.
One of the best arguments for the legalization is the fact that marijuana might be the key to our nation’s climbing debt. As the DPA has stated, “ State and local governments would acquire significant new sources of tax revenue from regulating marijuana sales.” (DPA, 2017). The marijuana industry is booming, growers and sellers alike are creating huge amounts of revenue in legalized states. In addition, the state itself is getting a bit of the pie, from taxation and regulation of these new businesses. Not only is marijuana creating more growth in our nation’s economy, it is also reducing the cost of many state law enforcement agencies and court costs, “Scarce law enforcement resources will be better used to ensure public safety while reducing corrections and court costs.” (DPA, 2017).
One of the major arguments against the legalization of marijuana is that legalization would prompt growth in the illicit market. Anti-legalization supporters believe that the legalization would allow more marijuana out on the streets, and conversely increase crime and illegal activity in our communities. But this is actually the opposite according to the DPA. Legalization would take the power out of drug dealers, making the marijuana more accessible would increase safety and regulation as well as putting a lot of drug dealers and illegal growers out of business, “Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring one of the nation’s largest cash crops under the rule of law. This will create jobs and economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illicit market.” (DPA, 2017). More jobs would be created and inversely the amount of crime in our states and communities would actually decrease with the legalization of marijuana.
In conclusion, we will never know the effects of national legalization of marijuana until it happens. But statewide legalization will give us a pretty good idea of the social and economic consequences that the legal marijuana will lead to. So far, in the states that have gone through with legalization have experienced economic growth, decrease in crime rate and an overall increase in the consumer safety of marijuana (DPA, 2017). The legalization of marijuana looks promising, further research and testing must be done in order to conclude the factors that would influence the legalization and the consequences of legal marijuana. Marijuana might be the key to winning the war on drugs and recovering from our current financial crisis, or it could be the downfall of our country as we know it. There are still many other factors to be researched and areas to explore. Only time will tell about our mystery drug, but the future does look promising.
Koji, This was a well written article presented. The ideas you mention provide a nice outlet towards two different view points towards legalizing and the legalization of marijuana. Your objectivity is refreshing as many who write about this topic, depict their opinions rather than describe the circumstances revolving around the legalization of marijuana.
The one idea that brings up some questioning is, how will we properly convey towards society that legalizing marijuana will make for a safer environment. As you said will not result in the growth of an illicit market, but actually result in the opposite. Marijuana bas many benefits including the treatment with cancer, used as a proper coping mechanism.
With the thought about the affects it would have on the economy, will this assistance in relieving some of our debt as a nation, be short lived, and temporary such as other factors that have skewed the market.
Koi,
You included a lot of interesting statistics and we totally support your cause. Some things were not developed on enough like what exact laws you want put in place and where.
You might find some more interesting details at
https://weeducation420.wordpress.com/
Koji,
I really enjoyed reading this article, and feel it is a very big controversy in our society today. I liked how you argued both sides of the argument, and didn’t completely stick to one side of the argument. I personally support the legalization of marijuana because of my anxiety, and there has been many studies showing the positive impacts of using medical marijuana with anxiety. I found this article >http://www.westword.com/marijuana/anxiety-and-marijuana-why-i-chose-pot-over-antidepressants-9633709> about a guy who has struggled with anxiety his entire life, and had a bad “trip” with marijuana back in college, but found that using small doses of CBD in his every day life worked better for him than having to rely on antidepressants such as Xanax. My question to you though is, what do you think a healthy age is to legalize marijuana, and do you think it should be just for medical use, or do you think there could be some goods to legalizing it recreationally?
Thanks for sharing
Koji, I really enjoyed this article especially with such controversy this topic brings with it. Legalization of marijuana will not only benefit the economy but will bring numerous jobs with it as well. People are going to get their marijuana anyways, there is no way of ridding this country of it, so why not tax them on it. You pointed out the economic benefits well but I think you should also mention the medical and physical benefits. you can find some here, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/110916/economic-benefits-legalizing-weed.asp. You could possibly mention how it’s been seen to stop epileptic seizures, or how adults in the work force tend to enjoy they’re jobs more, with regular use not using while on the job. I enjoyed this article hope to hear more from you soon.
Koji,
This was a very well written article. I enjoyed the fact that you included both sides of the argument. I personally support and found your pros interesting. While the legalization could be a negative because of deals and the illicit market, I think that there are more pros than cons. My sister has epilepsy and it effects her greatly but it has been proven that marijuana helps with the effects of epilepsy. Here’s a link: https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/other-treatment-approaches/medical-marijuana-and-epilepsy. What do you think?
Yo Koji!
This was a dank article (pun intended). I really liked your title because I just barely watched “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, so it really stood out to me. I find it interesting that by legalizing marijuana, we would actually reduce crime in cities. My question is, should there be a legal age to smoking Marijuana? And how old should it be? It is illegal to buy/sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 18, and buy/sell alcohol to anyone under 21. So what would the regulation for Mariana be?
You might find that this article will give you a tickle:
https://www.coloradopotguide.com/marijuana-laws-in-colorado/