Legalization of Marijuana - 2735 Words

Mark Ramsbottom Professor Holliday ENGL 1550 30 October 2010 Up In a Puff Of Smoke: Legalism and Marijuana People have been smoking marijuana for thousands of years while also using hemp for everything from fabric to make clothes and other items. Unfortunately, Harry J. Anslinger with a bit of power and enough determination decided pot was evil and addictive. The struggle continues to this day to overcome the lies about marijuana (â€Å"Marijuana (Weed) History and Facts†). There are many benefits to legalizing marijuana and the government should take advantage of it. Marijuana is even more popular now then it was in the sixties or seventies. Someone knows someone who smokes it. It is almost as easy to get as a pack of cigarettes now,†¦show more content†¦Marijuana legalization offers an important advantage and allows legal distribution and taxation of cannabis. In the absence of taxation, the free market price of legal marijuana would be extremely low, which would lead to five to ten cents per joint. The easiest way to hold the price at this level under legalization would be by an excise tax on commercial sales. An examination of the external costs imposed by cannabis users on the rest of society suggests that a harmfulness tax of $.50 -$1 per joint is appropriate. It can be estimated that excise taxes in this range would rise between $2.2 and $6.4 billion per year. Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of betwe en $10 billion and $14 billion per year. Altogether, legalization would save the taxpayers around $8 - $16 billion (Gleringer Para 1). Legalization would allow greater regulation. Cigarettes come with warnings. Alcoholic beverages are clearly marked with the amount of alcohol. Currently legal drugs contain a listing of all active and inactive ingredients. Illegal drugs could be sold legally with ingredients lists, warnings and purity levels clearly marked. On the other hand, legalization would save the considerable economic and social costs of the current criminal prohibition system. Current federal drugShow MoreRelatedThe Legalization Of Marijuana Legalization1061 Words   |  5 PagesThe Legalization of Cannabis in Ohio Marijuana is a controversial topic all across the United States. Recently marijuana has been voted on, legalized, and denied legalization in multiple states. There are still more states trying to fight the green fight for marijuana. The fight for legalization hasn’t been an easy one for cannabis supporters; they have been fighting tooth and nail to make it happen. 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With a deficit of over 1.1 bi llion marijuana sales could alleviate bothRead MoreLegalization of Marijuana1550 Words   |  7 PagesLegalization of Marijuana: Benefits and Statistics The topic of legalizing marijuana has been a topic of controversy for quite some time now not only throughout our local streets, but throughout the local and into the state government. The legalization of marijuana is such a controversial topic because some are for it and some are against it. People are for the legalization because of the great uses it has towards medicine, the money that could come from the taxation of legalized marijuana, andRead MoreLegalization of Marijuana972 Words   |  4 PagesOn January 1st the states of Colorado and Washington officially began the regulation of legal marijuana sales. Thousands of people from all over the country including tourists from Wisconsin, Ohio, Chicago, and even Georgia lined up out front of dispensaries to make a purchase. 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