The Economic Impact of Legalizing Marijuana

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What is a drug? A drug is “a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being” (Drug, n.d). We the people have established that marijuana is an illegal drug. Lately around the United States we are starting to change the rules for that. There are states that have deemed it O.K. to sell marijuana to the public for health reasons. With this happening a lot of things are being brought up. One of the main topics that come up is the economic value that this revenue will generate and how it will affect the states.
The legalization of marijuana will have a huge impact on the economics of the United States to the point that I feel that government will assist in the continuation of these companies. If it is passed in the government the selling of marijuana could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue. Colorado is the latest state that has approved the selling of marijuana for recreational use. This topic has been tossed around by the officials for years now. Legislators in Colorado have “consider excise and sales taxes on marijuana of up to 30 percent combined” (Frosch, 2013). With the rapidly growing market and marijuana industry rules and regulations had to be put into place. Even this tax charge needs to be implemented and enforced. “These taxes are set high enough to finance the administration of new laws, but not so high that customers are driven back to the black market” (Frosch, 2013). There are many financial benefits as a state can help pay for the enforcement and other fundamental issues. One bad thing about taxing so high is that you can simply crowd out the regulated market. It is important to find the right balan...

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Pierce, A. (2014, March 17). Medical marijuana Archives - The Stoner's Journal. The Stoners Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.stonersjournal.com/tag/medical-marijuana/
Kliff, S. (2012, November 1). Can Colorado create a legal market for marijuana? Washington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/01/can-colorado-create-a-legal-market-for-marijuana/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein
Lewis, A. (2014, January 29). Why US pot smokers still have a record. BBC News. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25832120
Ferner, M. (2014, February 25). No, Colorado Isn't Releasing People Imprisoned For Pot Crimes. But Why The Hell Not? The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/colorado-releasing-marijuana-prisoners_n_4854244.html

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