Should marijuana be legalized? This is a debate that has persisted for some time now. Some people argue that legalizing marijuana would allow the government to be able to regulate its production and distribution thus reduce the adversity of its negative effects. Besides proponents of this school of thought also believe that legalizing the drug would help save the tax payers money that is often spent to try to curb the use of the drug. Instead the government would earn revenue from marijuana trade. On the other hand those who oppose argue that legalizing marijuana would increase its consumption and consequently worsen the situation. There is no valid proof that legalizing marijuana would increase its usage. However there are valid reasons to
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Many young people are still affected by the drug and so are most families. Besides the trade in the drug continue to thrive in the black market. The monies realized from such trades are used wrongly to finance and sustain various crime groups and cartels across America and the world at large. Despite the fact that a lot of money is being spent on efforts to curb the spread of use of marijuana, its usage persists. Similarly its being illegal across the world has also done very little to curb its spread. The question therefore is, is it time to try something new and legalize the drug so as to be able to have more control of it? The answer is in the …show more content…
Law enforcers “will have more time and money to pursue criminals for other crimes, including those involving violence” (Drugnab.us, 2). Besides, legalizing marijuana would free more space in the crowded state correctional facilities. For instance following the legalization of marijuana in Colorado there was a dramatic fall in marijuana related prosecutions. Initially these prosecutions cost the tax payers millions of dollars. Today, however, such monies can be redirected to fund other state projects (Armentano, 3). In addition this would help to save tax payers money by reducing the amount of money that is usually used to maintain the prisoners. According to a special report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “correctional authorities spent $38.2 billion to maintain the nation’s state correctional systems I fiscal year 2001” (Stephan, 1). More so many people will be released to engage in more meaningful work rather than remain in prisons being fended
Many young people are still affected by the drug and so are most families. Besides the trade in the drug continue to thrive in the black market. The monies realized from such trades are used wrongly to finance and sustain various crime groups and cartels across America and the world at large. Despite the fact that a lot of money is being spent on efforts to curb the spread of use of marijuana, its usage persists. Similarly its being illegal across the world has also done very little to curb its spread. The question therefore is, is it time to try something new and legalize the drug so as to be able to have more control of it? The answer is in the …show more content…
Law enforcers “will have more time and money to pursue criminals for other crimes, including those involving violence” (Drugnab.us, 2). Besides, legalizing marijuana would free more space in the crowded state correctional facilities. For instance following the legalization of marijuana in Colorado there was a dramatic fall in marijuana related prosecutions. Initially these prosecutions cost the tax payers millions of dollars. Today, however, such monies can be redirected to fund other state projects (Armentano, 3). In addition this would help to save tax payers money by reducing the amount of money that is usually used to maintain the prisoners. According to a special report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “correctional authorities spent $38.2 billion to maintain the nation’s state correctional systems I fiscal year 2001” (Stephan, 1). More so many people will be released to engage in more meaningful work rather than remain in prisons being fended