In one year, Colorado’s income from the taxation of recreational marijuana nearly doubled the income from the taxation on alcohol (Aleem). Despite the economic boons that the legalization of drugs can provide to economies, there are other reasons for remaining steady with the status quo of keeping illicit drug use outside the scope of the law. A hotly debated issue, drug legalization, like many other topics, has many pros and cons, and many reasons for both sides. First demonstrated will be reasons for the continued illegalization of drugs, second will be reasons for legalizing drugs, and third will be my personal opinion on the issue at hand. First, the reasons for the continued illegalization of drugs.
Addiction
Drugs are substances that …show more content…
Experts from Harvard, the Cato Institute, and New York University estimate that by legalizing drugs, the United States would save an average of $41.3 billion annually on prohibition enforcement alone, and there would be a tax yield of $46.7 billion annually, putting the total economic benefit at around $88 billion annually (Ghosh). This massive figure is one that we could use elsewhere, such as our school system, which is currently 14th in the world (Pearson). Also, if we look to precedence within our own country, nearly two-thirds of Colorado’s income from marijuana taxation goes directly to their schools (Jaegar). If drugs were to be legalized in the United States, we could see massive benefits to the country’s economy and potentially massive benefits to the overall education …show more content…
Because of the major harms and inefficiency of the status quo, it is my personal opinion that drugs should be legalized. It is both the best solution in the short term, with freed up taxpayer dollars, taking off the heavy burden from the prisons, and less power to illicit drug traders, as well as the long term, with less drug use, less deaths as a result of drug use, more money freed up that compounds year after year, a safer environment, potentially better education system, and less drug addiction as a result of increasing availability of rehabilitation rather than incarceration (Aleem)(Jaegar)(Buggle)(Becker)(McCutcheon). Further, all of the anti-legalization arguments are nullified. One flaw that they all have in common is that they are all based on the assumption that legalization will lead to increased use, but if we look to historical precedence in Colorado as well as Portugal, the opposite effect is shown, negating essentially all of the arguments posed in itself (McCutcheon)(Baum)(Aleem). First the argument of increased addiction, but what this argument fails to look to is the number of addicted individuals at the status quo, and the amount of people that are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offences, and further, there is significant evidence that points towards the opposite, that addiction would actually go down with the legalization of drugs (Baum). Second, the argument of overwhelming the healthcare industry. This
Addiction
Drugs are substances that …show more content…
Experts from Harvard, the Cato Institute, and New York University estimate that by legalizing drugs, the United States would save an average of $41.3 billion annually on prohibition enforcement alone, and there would be a tax yield of $46.7 billion annually, putting the total economic benefit at around $88 billion annually (Ghosh). This massive figure is one that we could use elsewhere, such as our school system, which is currently 14th in the world (Pearson). Also, if we look to precedence within our own country, nearly two-thirds of Colorado’s income from marijuana taxation goes directly to their schools (Jaegar). If drugs were to be legalized in the United States, we could see massive benefits to the country’s economy and potentially massive benefits to the overall education …show more content…
Because of the major harms and inefficiency of the status quo, it is my personal opinion that drugs should be legalized. It is both the best solution in the short term, with freed up taxpayer dollars, taking off the heavy burden from the prisons, and less power to illicit drug traders, as well as the long term, with less drug use, less deaths as a result of drug use, more money freed up that compounds year after year, a safer environment, potentially better education system, and less drug addiction as a result of increasing availability of rehabilitation rather than incarceration (Aleem)(Jaegar)(Buggle)(Becker)(McCutcheon). Further, all of the anti-legalization arguments are nullified. One flaw that they all have in common is that they are all based on the assumption that legalization will lead to increased use, but if we look to historical precedence in Colorado as well as Portugal, the opposite effect is shown, negating essentially all of the arguments posed in itself (McCutcheon)(Baum)(Aleem). First the argument of increased addiction, but what this argument fails to look to is the number of addicted individuals at the status quo, and the amount of people that are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offences, and further, there is significant evidence that points towards the opposite, that addiction would actually go down with the legalization of drugs (Baum). Second, the argument of overwhelming the healthcare industry. This