The Legalization Of Prohibition In The United States

By the year 1920, the eighteenth amendment banning the manufacture and distribution of alcohol, commonly known as the Prohibition, was enforced in America. The law was passed with the hopes of lowering crime rates and strengthening family values. In the year 1933, the Prohibition was repealed. During the decade where it was enforced, it was never actually illegal to consume alcohol; many people bought illegal alcohol that was consequently of poor quality and made individuals become ill. Roughly 1,000 Americans died each year of the Prohibition. Additionally, Prohibition worsened the economy because jobs were lost from breweries closing, and the government lost about 11 billion dollars in tax revenue and used 300 million to enforce ban. The …show more content…
Legalizing marijuana would not fix everything entirely, but it would help. By legalizing this drug, the U.S could tax it and profit off of it. In an article published by the Drug Policy Alliance, it states, “[The] underground market for marijuana, [is] estimated to be worth $30 billion or more in the U.S. This immense market is running completely untaxed” (3). If we legalized and taxed this drug, that would mean nearly 30 billion dollars into the pockets of the government. Making a drug legal just to tax it and profit from it is not a new concept for this country, and the taxation of it would not be a whole new system; it would be taxed just the same as other drugs already are. In the same article it states, “Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales could reach up to $8.7 billion per year if taxed like alcohol or tobacco –on top of billions in saved law enforcement resources” (Drug Policy Alliance 4). If legalized, we would no longer have to dish out thousands of dollars to law enforcement making arrests based on minor possession or use charges. If taxing the drug is so simple why has it not already been done? Legalizing marijuana is ethically right to do because it will help boost the country’s economy, and when the economy of a country is healthy, its citizens will be healthy and better off as …show more content…
did legalize pot the expenses to keep it regulated would outweigh any and all tax revenue (Office of National Drug Control Policy 5). However, one can use the legalization of pot in Colorado as a case study to prove these people wrong. In a review of Colorado’s economy since legalization it states that “On January 1, 2014, legal marijuana sales began in Colorado –with more than $5 million sales generated in the first week alone” (Drug Policy Alliance 4). By taxing the drug, Colorado had a surge of income and the expenses must not have been too large in comparison because, “tax revenue from retail marijuana sales amounted to $40.9 million between January 2014 and October 2014” (“Decriminalization and Legalization” 2). Ten months of increased income for Colorado’s government. If the expenses truly outweighed the tax revenue as suggested, the profits would be negative rather than in the million range as seen here. It is not just pure money profit taking place either, over 16,000 new jobs were created and unemployment rates are at a six year low. No matter how one looks at the economic system, legalizing pot helped boost it. Excluding the minor expenses towards the new marijuana market, the profits off of it are being put to best use. As stated in the recent review of Colorado since legalization, “The state awarded the first $975,000 in grants to Colorado schools to be used to hire health professionals. The