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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... ... middle of paper ... ...marijuana-tax.html?_r=0 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
The series “High Profits” demonstrates the works and restrictions of the United States government regarding the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana. Breckenridge Cannabis Club business owners, Caitlin Mcguire and Brian Rogers, demonstrate both the struggles and profits of this up and coming industry. This series portrays virtually every viewpoint possible by including opinions from an array of political actors who discuss the influence of the government on this topic and the impact this topic has on the general public.
However, I will explain how it’s in the best interest of your state, and the nation, to start thinking otherwise. To begin, any personal disdain for recreational use should be dropped, as that sort of bias carries no benefit to the masses. Now, although the success of another state doesn’t guarantee the successful execution of the same laws as ours, the evidence is far from negligible. In 2012, Colorado legalized the Schedule 1 drug cannabis under Amendment 64. In 2015’s fiscal year, they raised $70 million dollars in cannabis tax revenue, nearly doubling the tax collected on alcohol(3)(4).
Works Cited "The California Marijuana Vote." New Yorker 23 Dec 1996: 62+. Brookhiser, Richard. "Pot Luck." National Review 11 Nov 1996: 27+ Simmons, Michael. "Give Pot a Chance." Rolling Stone 26 Dec 1996: 111+. Rist, Curtis and Harrison, Laird. "Weed the People." People 21 Oct. 1996: 75+. Funk and Wagnall's Volume 23 "Marijuana" 1996 Baum, Dan. "California's Separate Peace." Rolling Stone 30 Oct. 1997: 43+ Brookhiser, Richard. "Lost in the Weed." U.S. News & World Report 3 Jan. 1997: 9 Buckley, William "Legalization of Marijuana Long Overdue" The Albuquerque Journal. Online. 8 June 1993.
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Today’s economy is struggling and it is in dire need of relief. As of 2013, the United State’s debt was $17 trillion, and if marijuana were to be legalized than it would help raise more money. It could be taxed and distributed for consumption sold like alcohol and tobacco. Taxes on cigarettes amounted to more than $43.3 Billion in 2012 (RJReynolds). The legalization of marijuana could possibly one day make that money helping to reduce this nation's debt. But, as the United States continues to prohibit the use of marijuana, it will make the taxpayers pay more money each year on the illegal usage of the drug. The marijuana prohibition costs both state and federal governments more than $20 billion a year (CATO Institute). One drug policy could change how much it wastes on the prohibition but the government has done so. A study by the CATO institute showed that...
Marijuana has a long standing history of being one of the most controversial substances in America. While the history or the Cannabis plant indicates not only acceptance as a useful plant, but even advocated as a source of revenue and medicinal usage, much of the United States government propaganda over the last 100+ years has led Americans to accept very slighted and often false information about the plant and its uses. Based on the origin of the illegalization of marijuana and the inconsistent findings of its effects in comparison to other substances, both legal and illegal, marijuana should be decriminalized and treated as a recreational substance just as alcohol and tobacco are.
Stack, P, Suddath, C. (2009). A Brief History of Medical Marijuana. Retrieved November 4, 2010 from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1931247,00.html.
In 2010, approximately one in ten Americans abused marijuana; conversely, our country pays in excess of seven billion each year to implement the illegalization of this environmental material. A latest survey taken in 2011 shows marijuana has gradually become the desired drug for Americans. Generally, 17.4 million of the United States residents used marijuana in 2010 according to an analysis by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Stirring the Pot, 2013). An economics instructor, Dr. Jeffrey Miron at Harvard University, concluded a report that established the estima...
With an estimated twenty-five million active marijuana smokers in America that consume nearly thirty-one million pounds of marijuana each year, we are missing out on extreme revenue that this country cannot afford to go without for much longer (Krulick). Specialized government funded programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) cost around $7 billion and are in danger of being defunded to save money (Whitehouse). Marijuana tax revenues exceed $6 billion and would help less fortunate women in need of assistance when they are raising a child. On the state level, Alabama has a projected profit of $8.9 million in tax revenues alone from marijuana sales (Miron). States could increase pay or set up better retirement for police, firefighters, teachers, or any other underpaid public service.
Stack, Patrick, and Claire Suddath. “A Brief History of Medical Marijuana.” Time Health and Family. Time, Inc., 21 Oct. 2009. Web. Dec. 2013.
Walsh, John. "Q&A: Legal Marijuana in Colorado and Washington." The Brookings Institution. Washington Office on Latin America, 21 May 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Let’s begin with US revenue gain that would occur from legalizing marijuana. Marijuana Offers Extreme US revenue boost in several different ways. Shouldn’t we want to collect revenue due to taxation other then criminalization? Marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should inst...
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
Marijuana is the third most common leisure drug in the United States after alcohol and tobacco. Millions of Americans smoke marijuana despite the strict laws against its use. Marijuana is less dangerous compared to tobacco or alcohol. Smoking marijuana can cause breathing problems and coughing just like cigarettes and some people get addicted after using for a while. Regulating and legalizing marijuana will bring Americas greatest cash crop under law, create economic opportunities and jobs in the formal economy as opposed to the underground market. Adopting a legally controlled market for marijuana will ensure that consumers buy the products from a safe and legal source. Marijuana has been approved in some states for medical uses to ease the effects of different health challenges. Colorado and Washington legalized m...
In order to present a sound argument the middle, minor, and major terms will be defined so there is no question as to the basis of this argument. Illegal drugs are classified as controlled substances. Controlled substances are any of a category of behavior altering or addictive drugs whose possession and or use are prohibited by law. A few examples of controlled substances include heroin, cocaine, hallucinogens, and in the case of this argument marijuana. If found by the court of the law to be under the influence or possession of any controlled substance warrants penalization by the state or federal court which may include fines and or prison.