Could the legalization and taxation of marijuana help our economy?
Okay, we all know that the economy is in bad shape, we need a solution. What are the pros and cons of this?
Pros
-Weed is legally, less arrests and less people in jail for smoking it
-Possible Revenue
-The stop of illegal trade on the U.S.-Mexico border
-Weed farms/Factories/Possibility for new jobs?
-It would help a lot of people who are sick with terminal illnesses
-It’s a lot healthier than tobacco or alcohol
Cons
-Everyone would be high all time.
Yes, LEGALIZE IT!
It will never happen
Another BIG pro is that it would increase tourism to the US, which would in turn create more jobs as well as give more demand for companies already in the tourism industry. This is also why the drinking age should be lowered to 18, since that’s the drinking age virtually everywhere else.
I don’t think everyone would be high all the time just because pot is legal. People who are against it would continue to not smoke it, and most people who smoke responsibly would continue to do so responsibly.
black people have stupid ideas.
nobody needs that trash ruining this country
I agree with most of your pro points. The major problem with legalizing it would be that the government WOULD NOT benefit from it as much as the people.
Weed is easy to grow. All you need is one seed, soil, water, air, and sunshine. How would the government control people from growing weed in their own backyard? They can’t. The economy wouldn’t benefit from it, either. Like I said, all you need is one seed and your own backyard. It’s like, “Why buy tomatoes when you can grow your own?”
Edit:
@neet: Licenses are still pretty much irrelevant. One person out of a neighborhood can get a license and just sell it on the down-lo. If you widen the scope, it’ll still be pretty much the same thing. It’s like a virus. If one person has a plant, they could give away probably hundreds of seeds. Once this extrapolates far enough, it might be common for most people to own their own plant rather than buying from a convenience store or another authorized seller. I doubt cops are going to be knocking on random doors and asking, “Where’s the receipt for this weed?” or monitoring every licensee. Way too much manpower for that. Hence, losing profits (trade-off between raising taxes for more police and selling from local vendors) and criminalizing it. From what I’ve seen, cops don’t judge too harshly on potheads because they’re not really a huge threat to society compared to other criminals. Look how much illegal grow ops are done now–the government barely has any control over it besides busting the occasional drug dealer. How do you think it’s going to fare when it does become decriminalized?
Alcohol and cigarettes are illegal to minors, yet they still circulate more than you can imagine among these people. Alcohol and cigarettes are harder to make, therefore, people buy it rather than do it themselves. Weed is pretty easy. Just grow it and you’re pretty much 80% of the way there. Plus, I think weed has a higher value than alcohol or cigs because of the high it gets you. Of course, this is all a matter of speculation. That could all change depending on the prices for the weed.
Edit2:
@neet: Jaywalking and Internet piracy are also illegal in many jurisdictions but many do it, anyway. Why? Because they see many other people doing it and you can do it in the safety of your own home (for Internet piracy). How often do you see a person getting fined for jaywalking? Some people don’t even know it’s a law/bylaw which is understandable because personally, I’ve never seen it enforced in my life. Once the word gets out that weed is legal to grow (with a license), I’m sure not many people are going to look at the fine print. It will mostly likely become a weak deterrent when it becomes common practice to domestically grow, which I expect it will (not immediately, but eventually).
The whole point of me mentioning the alcohol and cigs was that if they’re willing to break the law to get both, what’s stopping them from growing their own weed when that’s illegal, too? Like I said, the value is higher than cigs and alcohol, so they would probably go to more lengths to just make their own. If the prices are similar to salvia in certain places, they’ll soon figure out it’s better to make your own than to buy. And this ties into the whole “how does it benefit the economy through TAXES” bit. My earlier point was to show that it doesn’t really because if you take into account the costs for regulating it, approving licenses, monitoring the licensees, etc. the benefits aren’t too significant for the government.
Another pro: The government could tax the heck out of it and it could help the deficit. I’m sure pot smokers wouldn’t mind paying the tax. Even with the tax, it would still probably be cheaper than it would be if it were illegal. They could also sell licenses to be able to grow AND sell weed. That could also help with the deficit.
As far as the con, I don’t think everyone would be high all the time. Alcohol is more addictive than weed and everyone isn’t drunk all the time. Plus, not everyone likes weed. I don’t. But I do agree that a lot more people would smoke than do now, and it could become a problem. Especially things like driving while high.
Edit – The government CAN control people growing weed in their back yard the same way they control people not doing it now — make it illegal (without a license)…and if you’re caught growing it (without a license), you go to jail. Weed IS easy to grow but most people don’t grow it because the penalties once caught, are too high. The money comes in charging outrageous fees for liscences to grow it as well as huge taxes; people who can’t aford that, can buy it from someone.
Liquor licenses can cost up to 100,000. Make the license for weed even higher.
Ryan – I understand what you’re saying but I don’t agree. What’s stopping people from growing their own weed now? Only the fact that it’s illegal and they could go to jail. The fear of jail is a powerful thing. Of course there will be people who break the law, but if the penalties are high enough, MOST people won’t. Just like they don’t now.
And yes, minors have access to alcohol and cigarettes (even though it’s illegal for them) but they also have the same access to weed (which is also illegal for them), so I don’t understand what your point was there. If you’re trying to say the fact that they’re illegal doesn’t stop people from doing illegal things, that’s a bad analogy because both hings are illegal to minors and they’re just as likely to do either. Minors aren’t where the money comes in anyway.
no, marijuana causes long term damage to the serotonin regulation system in the brain, resulting in mental illness to a greater or lesser degree according to the amount and frequency of use. an increase in mental illness would be damaging to the economy as well as the overall health of the nation.
look up” marijuana schizophrenia link” on your seach engine.
Absolutely not. The crime rate would soar and grades would plummet. Deaths will sky rocket and hospital bills would also be on the rise.
yup, totally agree!
The only reason it is illegal is because of economics, there are a thousand things that marijuana would fix that pharmaceutical drugs are prescribed for. if marijuana became legal, pharmaceutical companies would lose billions and billions every year. if marijuana was legal, it would also cost alcohol companies, an example of a way your persuaded on it being a bad thing is, when you see the commercials such as the talking dog pot commercial. these are sponsored by partnership for drug free America. drug free America is funded by alcohol companies. this is a joke as alcohol is a drug/ poison, but it is a drug that is sanctioned. its rather ironic that a lot of people that say it is a drug and should not be used while they are smoking and drinking. its like saying just because it has a label and barcode and you can scan it doesn’t mean it isn’t a drug. also something else is that, it costs countries millions perhaps billions every year in taxes to be able to fund the clocking down of people who take this drug by the police. this is very costly and this money could be put to better use and it would also save the economy and people a lot more money.
William randoff who in 1935 came out with a machine called the decordacater. this allowed people to economically process hemp fibers. hemp is the worlds most resourceful material and anything from clothes, to paper can be made from this. there was actually a huge campaign that took place during the year marijuana was outlawed, books, programs, lots of brain washing came out so that they could convince people into thinking it was bad and for them to accept it being banned.
no one has ever died from marijuana in over 10 thousand years of use, compared to 10 thousand people who die annually from coffee, 500 thousand who die from alcohol and more then 400 thousand who die from cigarettes on a yearly basis. besides i think we as people all have our own right, who are we to tell someone else what to do. people who drink alcohol, you think that considers them a drunk just because they drink, no it doesn’t, same with marijuana, thigns should be taken in moderation. and moderation should be applied to everything in your life. anything can be abused such as burgers and pizzas for example, does anyone see a reason to outlaw that because if taken too much it can make you fat. I’m purposely trying to make it sound silly because that is how silly we are being
don’t get me wrong though, i don’t comply with drugs being legal except i see no problem with marijuana, God made marijuana, man made alcohol, who do you trust.
Good Luck, God bless
hell yeah
it is the number 1 cash crop.
it would rise the economy but it would hinder many other aspects of everyday life.
looking at a nation that would be in a high stupor all the time.