There is always a great debate, for many years, on if marijuana should be legalized for all purposes, to include medical and recreational. The question should lie as to what is the actual harm that comes from making the drug legal. Why not legalize the drug and place a tax, just like the tax occurred on tobacco. In the 1890’s, marijuana/hemp was replacing the cotton plantations and it was a major cash crop in the southern states. The product was being placed in some prescriptions; it was even listed on the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942. During this time, using marijuana for recreational use was not illegal. In the 1950s it was an accessory of the beat generation; in the 1960s it was used by college students and "hippies" and became a symbol of rebellion against authority. It was being used by musicians and the people in show business. During this time clubs were opening in most major cities and these were tolerated by the community because the patrons did not disrupt after using the drug. The government has tried to use criminal penalties to prevent marijuana use for over 75 years and still to this day marijuana is now used by over 25 million people annually. Now that Colorado and Washington have legalized use and possession of marijuana and 20 states have legalized its medical uses, many people, including virtually everyone who has studied the matter, hope that other states will also legalize and ultimately force the federal government to repeal its strict criminalization of marijuana. Starting around the year of 1972, some states were reclassifying the laws to write that if someone had in their possession an amount less than 1 oz., it is not considered a crime. About half a million men and women are currently incarcerated in jails and prisons for drug violation. Nearly 30,000 of them are in prison for nothing more serious than marijuana possession. American prisons inevitably damage and scar their inmates, making many of them antisocial and unemployable. Some of those now imprisoned for marijuana offenses would be there for other offenses were marijuana legalized, but tens of thousands would not be. Marijuana prosecutions severely damage thousands of young lives every year and are cruel, unnecessary and probably likely to cause criminal behavior. The costs to state and federal governments of investigating, arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning persons for marijuana offenses are enormous. There are arguments that we could not only save enforcement costs by eliminating prohibition, we could also raise $6 billion or so annually by taxing the sale of marijuana. The total amount of money that could be saved is over 13.7 billion. (Huffington Post) Marijuana distribution will be more efficient and the drug far less costly when producing and distribution it is no longer a black market operation. The current drug dealers that do not file taxes on that income would now have to file taxes every year. The failure of marijuana prohibition is due in part to the plant’s ease of cultivation. It can be grown virtually anywhere, indoors and out, requiring little horticultural expertise or significant financial investment. In the same respect it resembles alcohol, which was widely homemade during its prohibition and was produced almost anywhere at very little expense. Both marijuana and alcohol, it is impossible to eliminate the drug’s source and efforts to interdict the smuggling of the drug have only marginal effects on price and consumption.
Because marijuana is so easy to produce, the price of legalized marijuana to the consumer could not be maintained at anywhere near its current leave by imposing high taxes. High taxes would create another black market and defeat many of the objectives of legalization. The price of legalized marijuana would have to be a fraction of its present black market price. When marijuana is regulated the consumer will feel more comfortable, morally, in buying and consuming the drug. It is almost certain that legalizing both the use and the distribution of marijuana would substantially increase consumption. Even if marijuana use were to triple under a legalized regime, which no one predicts, this would be a small price to pay for the benefits of legalization. Not only would the drug be safer and let potent, its increase use would likely reduce the consumption of alcohol, a far more harmful drug. Though the physical and psychological effects of alcohol and marijuana are quite different, there is substantial evidence that drinkers who take up marijuana drink less alcohol. It also seems likely that the consciousness alteration obtained with cheaper and lawful marijuana would reduce the appetite for other illegal, dangerous drugs. Increased consumption of legalized marijuana could prove to be a benefit of legalization, not a cost. Millions of marijuana users and anti-prohibitionists are increasing the pressure to legalize both medical and non-medical uses of the drug. Marijuana prohibition cannot remotely withstand a cost-benefit analysis. Many of the costs of prohibition can only be eliminated by legalization at the federal level. If anti-drug treaties are construed as prohibiting federal legalization, they should be amended to eliminate provisions that produce. The federal government is not constrained by the treaties from decriminalizing marijuana, which it should quickly do. Decriminalization is a step toward legalization rater than the ultimate objective.
We have to remember that marijuana is overall harmless in a sense. Tobacco and alcohol could be more dangerous as tobacco causes cancer and alcohol can cause drunk driving accidents. Another pro for legalizing marijuana it would stop the unnecessary fines for possession. If the law makers would do their homework, they should of reviewed the past when marijuana was once legal, there was not a high crime rate, communities did not have problems with the clubs that allowed smoking of the drug inside.
The fact is that we're not getting rid of this drug any time soon so it would be smart to know what damage might be created by its use. The idea that marijuana will soon be eliminated from American and the rest of the world is a ridiculous fantasy, so why not just go ahead and legalize it and collect on the tax money. By saving $13.7 billion a year it might bring this country back together.