Argumentative Essay

The Legalization of Marijuana

Introduction

The idea of marijuana legalization has been a hot topic for years now. In the past society completely disregarded the possible positive effects of marijuana legalization and stated that it is an addictive drug that should be outlawed. However, in recent years society has discovered that marijuana is not as bad as most assume that it is. Scientists have proven that marijuana is not the “devils lettuce”, and can have many positive effects. Although, some still say that marijuana is an addictive drug that is causing people to die. Some states have legalized marijuana recreationally but many states are still deciding if the positives outweigh the negatives, with this do the negative effects of marijuana outweigh the positive impact that marijuana has in states where marijuana is legalized recreationally?

The Positive Effects of Marijuana 

Marijuana legalization would open up a wide array of businesses within the U.S. which in return will provide tax revenue to the U.S. There has been numerous cases in which making marijuana recreational has brought a state excellent economic growth. The article titled “Marijuana: Should the United States Legalize Marijuana?” states that “Legalization puts an end to the unwieldy costs and injustices caused by prohibition, they contend, and generate sorely needed tax revenue and economic growth in the process” (Issues & Controversies 2 ). The article suggests that legalizing marijuana would have two major economic factors. The first suggestion made was legalizing marijuana would indefinitely end the costs of prohibiting marijuana, in return, freeing up vital resources. The second suggestion points out that with the influx of business and the regulation given by the government, the US. would gain much needed tax revenue and grow the economy. To further prove the idea of economic growth in the article “The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Weed” the author Krishna, Mrinalini reports “…the benefits to the economy could be exceptional: a report from cannabis analytics company New Frontier suggests that federally legal pot could generate an additional $131.8 billion in aggregate federal tax revenue by 2025.”(Mrinalini 2). The author points to the future of marijuana legalization by identifying the amount of money that legal marijuana distribution could generate. With sin tax being put onto marijuana, due to it being considered to be harmful by the government, the price of tax for purchasing this item would be increases. This means that marijuana would generate more income than say a burger due to the tax on burgers being less than products with sin tax. With the upsurge of marijuana businesses that would be created, the demand for workers would also increase. In fact, the author Mrinalini announces that “The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion.”(Mrinalini 3). The author confirms that recreational marijuana can have a huge effect on the job market, additionally lessening the unemployment rate within America. In doing so, hard earned money can then be put back into the economy due to more people being in the workforce, therefore spending their money. With all of this considered, the U.S. could see a massive influx in the economy due to federal legalization. The statistics given above only represent the state of California. Many other states have seen massive growth in their job markets. These states include; Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. All in all marijuana legalization could assist America’s economy by growing the job market and offering billions of dollars in tax revenue. Legalization would put a huge dent in the national unemployment rate, which could then lower the poverty rate, which allows our economy to expand. Therefore federal legalization of marijuana could positively benefit every citizen of the U.S.  

The benefits of federally legalizing marijuana have been identified, but what are the consequences that the illegalization of marijuana is having on the economy? The economic effect of prohibiting marijuana is greatly damaging to our economy, costing the government millions of dollars a year to try to taper the increasing use of marijuana. The popularity of weed has drastically expanded across america and the police have not been able to keep up with marijuana possession arrests. Author John Mckay in his article “Marijuana Prohibition Is a Poor Policy That Needs to End” notes that “Law-enforcement agencies are simply not capable of interdicting all of this pot and despite some successes have not succeeded in thwarting criminals who traffic and sell marijuana”(Mckay 113). Mckay writes that the use of weed has increased too much for the police to keep up. As seen in Figure 1 there has been an increase of arrests related to marijuana possession which is greatly damaging the economy.  

To show how much money is being spent on marijuana possession arrests, in the article “Weed Prohibition Costs Americans Millions” author Elise Lavalee reveals that “According to a 2012 study from Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, full marijuana legalization would save the United States more than $13 billion a year”(Lavalee 1). The author remarks on the fact that due to prohibiting marijuana there is $13 billion worth of taxpayers money that is being used on people being put on probation, parole, and serving jail time due to a drug that has little evidence of harm. The U.S. government could use this money to improve the education system, fix broken roads, provide more food services,build more homeless shelters, and improve many other forms of public services. Not only does the government save approximately $13 billion dollars a year with the extermination of prohibiting marijuana, but they also gain money from the expansion of businesses. All of this means that more money can be put into expanding other parts of this country that need reforming. 

The Negative Effects of Marijuana

The legalization of marijuana can benefit the economy but there are two sides to every story. Marijuana is no different from any other substance legalized in America. The positives of legalization also bring negatives that can affect our economy. When discussing the effects of marijuana in society, the article “Legalizing Marijuana Would Have Many Negative Effects” written by author McKay states the following “…healthcare costs would rise and productivity would suffer. Legal alcohol serves as a good example: The $8 billion in tax revenue generated from that widely used drug does little to offset the nearly $200 billion in social costs attributed to its use”(McKay 100). Mckay draws a connection between marijuana and alcohol. Both are drugs that are socially used by people. The author demonstrates that despite the amount of tax revenue that alcohol generates for the economy, there is a drawback. The amount of money that is spent on the social costs due to alcohol consumption. Including; drunk driving, medical bills, police enforcement, and other accidents that can happen due to the actions of people under the influence. If federal marijuana legalization was enacted Americans could see an increase in the amount of money spent on social costs. These costs could be caused by the price of treatment centers for marijuana abuser. The author DuPont in the article “Marijuana Prohibition Is Working Well” claims the following “Marijuana was an identified drug of abuse for 57 percent of the individuals referred to treatment from the criminal justice system.”(DuPont 107). The author concludes that a high percentage of people who partake in the usage of marijuana end up in some sort of treatment centers which in return costs the population millions of dollars in taxes, due to the increase in medicare. If marijuana was legalized, the assumption that these number could drastically increase could be argued. There is proof that federal legalization could have this effect. DuPont observes the following “Legalized gambling has not reduced illegal gambling in the United States; rather, it has increased it…Legal gambling sets the stage for illegal gambling just the way legal marijuana would set the stage for illegal marijuana trafficking.”(DuPont 107). Even with the regulation of marijuana, illegal marijuana could still be relevant. In fact it could be even higher due to possible cheaper prices. Unsafe practices could end up putting more people into treatment centers directly increasing the amount of money taxpayers pay. When illegal marijuana is being created, cheap tactics are done to make marijuana grow faster. This is because pesticides are sprayed onto marijuana to help it grow. Inhaling these pesticides can be deadly and end up causing collapsed lungs. With all of this information the federal legalization of marijuana shouldn’t be considered due to the increase in medicare bills, and also the possibility that illegal distribution would increase due to the prices being cheaper.

Not only could the federal legalization of marijuana end up damaging the economy but, marijuana still has evidence of being damaging to smokers. The author Li in the article “Marijuana Use and Motor Vehicle Crashes” tackles the subject by exclaiming “Although marijuana is the most commonly detected non alcohol drug in drivers, its role in crash causation remains unsettled” (Li 1). Those who consume the drug marijuana are statistically proven to have a higher chance of being involved in car crashes. Not only does marijuana use cause an increase in car crashes but there is some evidence that smoking can have harmful side effects.The author Ravi in his article “Associations Between Marijuana Use and Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Outcomes: A Systematic Review”claims “In vitro and animal studies have reported that THC can modulate cannabinoid receptors on human cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscles, resulting in ischemia”(Ravi 2). This means that the vascular system has an increased chance of having diseases form. With this information given the conclusion that marijuana is not as safe as most assume can be made. All in all, the blanket statement that marijuana is a safe drug can be dismissed, due to evidence of marijuana damaging the human brain, and the higher chance of car crashes of marijuana smokers.

The Reality of Legalizing Marijuana

When talking about the negatives of federally legalizing marijuana, most arguments assume the behavior of others and providing little evidence of marijuana harming smokers.. Legalizing marijuana nationally will greatly benefit the U.S. because the positives will greatly outweigh the limited negatives.When discussing the possible increase in medical bills, related to pot users, this is under the assumption that society will act irresponsibly with the substance. To use alcohol as an example, there are numerous advertisements and movements to teach the population how to act more responsible while under the influence. The majority of alcohol users are responsible while under the influence. Assuming that everyone is irresponsible under the influence is begging the question. In addition one of the other major views used to promote marijuana illegalization is that legalizing gambling increased the amount of illegal gambling. This is not a fair connection to marijuana. Gambling is not a substance it is a way for people to try to make money. Gambling is addicting but the reason for illegal gambling is due to the amount of money that gamblers can make from it. Marijuana users cannot make money from smoking marijuana. When the prohibition of alcohol was enacted, a lot of gang violence started to appear due to the increase in smuggling alcohol into the country to distribute it. Once prohibition was removed the gangs who were distributing alcohol disappeared and in today’s America, all we see is legal alcohol. With the federal legalization of marijuana something similar could happen. Illegal marijuana would disappear from the scene and the drug could then be regulated by the government, making it a safer activity for the general population. The topic of marijuana being unsafe to consume is not supported with enough evidence making it a weak argument. The author Lopez in the article “Marijuana Is a Relatively Safe Drug – with Some Risks” confirms this saying “Overall, marijuana is a relatively safe drug — certainly less harmful than some of the drugs that are legal today, and potentially beneficial to some people’s health through its medical use.”(Lopez 1). Lopez is arguing that marijuana is one of the safest drugs, if not the safest drug, and in the end can end up having great medical benefits for some users. Most of the arguments made against the legalization of marijuana can be rebutted and proven incorrect. Thus proving the federal legalization of marijuana should be enacted.

Conclusion

Now is the time to take action on the federal legalization of recreational marijuana. The popularity and acceptance of the drug will continue to expand, and soon enough Americas could see massive benefits to the country. These benefits including; more jobs, more money put into the government, and less money being spent on law enforcement. To finalize, the positives of the legalization of marijuana greatly outweigh the negatives.