The Marijuana Legalization Debate: Economic, Social, and Health Implications

Benefits of Marijuana Legalization

Marijuana also is known as some other variable name which pot, weed, or bud has been using from history since around 500 BC. It is a herbal of Cannabis sativa which has been using medical purposes like fiber medicinal and food-changing of the human body. In Early colonists, America cultivates Marijuana as a medicine who are suffering from cancer and AIDS. Now some states in the US started supporting the legalization of Marijuana like Colorado and Washington. Even though there is a conflict between the federal government and state government about legalizing Marijuana, for the overall benefit, the Government should legalize Marijuana in all the states.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to legalizing Marijuana throughout the United States. Some experts saying is that a billion of USA dollars is lost only for not legalizing weed in all the States. For Example, for decades, a black market was the only place to find Marijuana. Your friends always have some on hand, but the question that where he gets it from this change of dealing like he knows someone knows and knows someone, and finally, someone has known a drug dealer or some Terrorist /mafia organization in other countries. Those money has been used against killing innocent people, and Government has to put a large amount of money into national security and safety. The recent problem has also been seen that purchasing Marijuana off the street by hand is more dangerous than creating a set of standards for quality and safety control products.

In addition, A black Market of weed products has been selling all over the United States, which could be included in government tax revenue. That money can be used to make roads and bridges, funding public schools, government research centers as well as national projects. However, Government is also spending lots of money on security and protecting the black market, which is quite impossible. The legalization of Marijuana not only increased tax revenue but also some other health benefits as well as.

For Example, in medical Cannabis, pot is a useful drug for the treatment of a wide range of diseases such as Crohn, Epilepsy, Cancer, Anxiety, Insomnia, High Blood Sugar, Nervous system degeneration, and depression. In the United States, more than 15 million American adults are suffering from some type of depression. The result is committing suicide rates higher and higher every year. Smoking weed is fun, enjoyable entertainment, makes people happy and helps get rid of depression.The main reason for legalizing pot is that it increases local government revenue. In Colorado state has shown graph number of amounts of money increase respectively.Figure: Increasing tax revenue from 2014 to 2018 in Colorado

Weighing Marijuana’s Impact

The chart shows that the number of amount weed sales increases from 2014 to 2018, from almost $42 million dollars to $120 million. A great amount of money goes to Government revenue. In that, money is being used to manufacture new schools or simply develop them, something very useful to any state across the country. ‘Legalizing Marijuana has many things to offer. Besides freeing up funds to state agencies and city police forces, it also frees up manpower and resources for violent crimes, instead of trying time and money up in chasing a non-violent crime such as marijuana use.’ (Stevens, 2012). Moreover, Legalizing weed could be beneficial for the national economy as if the national Government permitted Marijuana in every State like alcohol, it would be a large profitable industry. It will be created an American job market; for instance, In Colorado has been selling around $73.5 million in marijuana-related products for just a few years, and Oregon state has been found that spent $647 in years, which is the average recreational customer on Marijuana.

Everything has some positive and negative effects. However, it has some negative effects. Compared to other drugs like alcohol or beer, it is safer. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention in the US, nearly twenty-five thousand people died in 2013 from liver disease, which was caused by alcohol, and 2.2 million arrests in 2012 in the United States for Alcohol-related crimes. Moreover, the Tobacco product also caused nearly fifty thousand people to die per year.

Some researcher has shown that weed is similar to Cigarette getaway drugs which influence the link to a more serious and dangerous drug like heroin or meth as well as crime involvement. There is also a law against smoking pot and driving like alcohol because it decreases your capacity to drive properly, which risks your life as a passenger or others as well. Moreover, every State classified driving and drinking as the same as driving and smoking. Different states have different laws on driving under the influence of drugs. In Texas, DUI and DWI have very restricted laws for safety departments. It would be worst not only DUI or DWI but also charged a felony. For Example, In Kentucky, from two years to ten years in prison and a fine of up to Twenty thousand dollars. There is no such scientist who thinks the test of the level of smoking, but physiological behaviors tell if he/she is smoking or not. There is no testing device invention yet, like a breathalyzer for an alcohol test.

Regulations and Considerations

However, it is a kind of drug it needs to be some restrictions or rules and regulations. At the beginning legalization of weed, the first effort was only for medical propose. According to that, California was the first State to legalize weed for medical propose in 1996. After that states, ten State included California, Colorado, Alaska, Orgon, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada, legalized Bud for personal recreational purposes by ballot measure in 2017. There are many things that need to consideration when the Government passes the law, which is that the Government has to spend a number amount of money on developing a new system, such as making a law on buying age, production of marijuana law, selling limitation law, selling store rules, and regulation. Not only that, many people debated if Marijuana should be legalized, id. Their change would be US drugs and criminal justice policies that affect a great cost to the nation of liberty.

Some people think that the Government should take some extra steps to control the massive industry. There is an example in Colorado state Government policies monitoring and implantation of it. Hudak, John explains ‘Colorado’s Rollout of Legal Marijuana Is Succeeding.’ How can the state government implement a new controversial product in the system, and what policies have to make for it? For Example, the Government makes rules, regulations, taxation, and other policies for the safety to be succeeding the products. The relevance of this source is the economics which is Government make a rule for products, as in Colorado, legalizing Marijuana and came up with some restriction like product tracking, limiting purchase, taxation on it, and, most importantly, the age limit for buying and selling as well as. It is quite challenging for any state’s Government to implement and monitor a large number of consumers. The Government needs to research how they provide better service for public safety.

The evidence has shown that Marijuana will be officially allowed to sale all over the United States today or tomorrow. It is a matter of time. It is clear that legalizing Marijuana would create great opportunities, such as Creating a new industry, creating a number of jobs sector, helping suffering patients, and creating a strong local economy and Government also. In Contract, Critics believes that moderating marijuana law makes children and teens more exposed to the drugs and cause a rising drive, but it will help some patients a serious illness as well. In the end, people are going to drugs. Whether it is legal or not, it is a better idea put them in a system government can control them. There is also additional research that needs to be done on the number of benefits and risks of legalizing Marijuana, especially for the public. Once it has been legalized, scientists also can figure out how can do better services for monitoring or controlling.

References:

1. Lopez, German. ‘Marijuana Legalization Is a Response to the Failures of the War on Drugs.’ Vox.com, Vox Media, 14 Nov. 2018, Accessed 11 December 2018. www.vox.com/identities/2018/8/20/17938342/marijuana-legalization-war-on-drugs-failure.
2. Researcher, Colorado. ‘Marijuana Sales Reports.’ Gov. John Hickenlooper | The Official Site of Governor Hickenlooper, Nov. 2018, Accessed 11 December 2018. www.colorado.gov/pacific/revenue/colorado-marijuana-sales-reports.
3. Stevens, A. (2012, February 8). Common sense legalizing marijuana allows police to focus on violent crimes. The Raw Story. Retrieved September 3, 2014, Accessed 11 December 2018. http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/amanda/legalizing_marijuana_violent_crime_731.htm
4. Hudak, John. ‘Colorado’s Rollout of Legal Marijuana Is Succeeding.’ Brooking, 31 July. 2014 https://www.brookings.edu/research/colorados-rollout-of-legal-marijuana-is-succeeding/ Accessed 11 December 2018.
5. Franciosi, Anthony. ’12 Pros & Cons Of Marijuana Legalization.’ Honest Marijuana, Honest Marijuana, 23 July 2018, Accessed 11 December 2018. www.honestmarijuana.com/legalization-of-cannabis-pros-and-cons/.
6. Jacques, Renee and Luling, Todd V. ‘This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere.’ The Huffington Post, 24 October 2013, Accessed 11 December 2018 https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/marijuana-legalization_n_4151423
7. Head, Tom. ‘8 Reasons Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized.’ 18 July 2018, Accessed 11 December 2018 https://www.thoughtco.com/reasons-why-marijuana-should-be-legalized-721154