Should Marijuana be Legalized?
BCOM/275
November 26, 2012
Should marijuana be legalized?
Throughout the years, the topic should marijuana be legalized is often heavily debated. For many years the use of marijuana was forbidden and outlawed in the United States, but in more recent years marijuana seems to be becoming accepted. Scientist has found many useful applications for marijuana. Recently, here in the United States, many states have approved legislation for marijuana for medical purposes. Most recently, two states Colorado and Washington have passed referendums that will allow people over the age of 21 recreational use of marijuana without the penalty of a criminal offense. These two states will oversee the use of marijuana for its constituents similar to how alcohol is controlled. Whereas, the government at the state level in Colorado and Washington is in favor for the legalization and passed legislation for the legalization of marijuana, the federal government has not. This causes legal, moral, and ethical issues and begs that questions; should marijuana be legalized?
Pros of Legalization
One benefit of the legalization of marijuana would be the ability for state and local governments to tax the legal production and sale of it. Currently, because marijuana is illegal the sale of it is not taxed so the local, state, and federal governments do not reap any of the benefits of this “$10.5 billion dollar industry” (Miron, 2005, p.4). In a report written by Jeffrey A. Miron, Miron states that “marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco” (Miron, 2005, p.1).
One does not have to be an economist to see the revenue that could be generated by the legalization of marijuana. The boost would