Matt Willey - Yola



Matt WilleyLegalizing MarijuanaThe war on drugs has been an ongoing and what seems to be an endless battle for decades. Marijuana has been an ongoing issue for years as well. When we think of illegal street drugs, we think of crack, heroine, meth, and of course Marijuana. Most of these drugs are illegal because they are highly addictive and can ruin and end lives. Without these drugs flooding our streets, it is thought that our world would be a much safer and more peaceful place to live. However, eliminating these drugs all together has been a failing process for years due to the high demand for these drugs and the volume that they are being produced and sold at. Marijuana is one of these drugs that have been illegal since the early 1900’s, and yet it can be easily found no matter where you go. Billions have been spent trying to enforce it over the years, and many are beginning to feel that Marijuana being illegal is doing more harm than good. So why does Marijuana stand out from other illegal drugs? We have all heard the Phish listening, dreadlock having, Subaru Outback driving hippie, make claims on how weed isn’t physically addictive and how weed has never resulted in an overdoes or death directly related to Marijuana itself. Chances are you’ll assume that they are just a burnout and disregard everything they have just said. However there is a lot of truth to these common “stoner” responses. The fact is, there really have been no overdoses or deaths related directly to Marijuana (Overdose). However, about 24,000 people died in the U.S. from accidental drug overdoses in 2006 (Doheny, 2008). Cocaine accounted for nearly 25% of the deaths while heroin and other illicit drugs were the cause of 14% of the deaths ((Doheny, 2008). Those deaths combined roughly equaled the amount of deaths cause by prescription opioids, which resulted in 38% of the deadly overdoses recorded in 2006 ((Doheny, 2008). Tobacco and alcohol which are perfectly legal if you are age? Tobacco alone is responsible for 443,000 deaths annually (Centers for Disease, 2010), while alcohol induced deaths are responsible for nearly 75,000 (msnbc, 2005). Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it’s harmless. So since Marijuana doesn’t have any directly related deaths or overdoses, does that mean it’s harmless? Of course it does not. But when comparing these statistics against one another, it defiantly raises the question of why substances far more harmful and deadly are the ones that are legal, opposed to the less harmful and deadly substance. And why should billions of dollars a year be spent on trying to keep a substance illegal and off the streets when potentially, billions of dollars of revenue could be earned if it became a legal, controlled, taxed substance (Reuteman, 2010)? If we look at our past history, Prohibition during the first decade of the 20th century might ring a bell (Prohibition). Alcohol became illegal in efforts to reduce crime related with incidences linked to alcohol. All this did was swing the door right open for producing bootlegged alcohol in the black market. The demand for alcohol was still extremely high. When the supply is low and the demand is high, people are willing to take the high risk in order to produce the alcohol, simply because they know they will be able to earn a huge profit. The benefit of being able to sell for a high price outweighed the risk of being caught. Not only did this lead to mass production in the black market, gang related violence increased significantly (Prohibition). Al Capone is notorious for his multi-million dollar Chicago operation in bootlegging, prostitution and gambling throughout the years of Prohibition (Al Capone). Eventually, it became clear that by prohibiting the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors, black markets were formed, bootlegged sales of alcohol emerged, gang violence increased, and no longer was alcohol a taxed substance that could generate revenue. It was clear that things were better off when alcohol was legal and controlled by the government, and that’s why in 1933 (Prohibition), the prohibition on alcohol was brought to an end.Many feel that the illegalization of Marijuana is very similar to the prohibition of alcohol. The demand for cannabis has always been there, and will continue to be there. Therefore there will always be individuals willing to take the risk of running a grow-op, smuggling cannabis across the border, and selling it on the streets. The cost of growing Marijuana varies depending on how it’s grown and how high-tech the operation is. However, it is relatively inexpensive to grow, and with street prices ranging anywhere from $150-$350 an ounce depending on location and quality of the product, the returns in profit are high (The Price). This makes it well worth it for someone to take the risk and form a black market operation that could potentially rake in millions. Today with technology, growers are able to grow bud that is far more potent than in years past which means they are able to sell for even higher amounts (Harrison, 2010). This is because they are able to use technology to monitor and control everything from the amount water and light each plant receives, to how much humidity and CO2 is in the room (Brady, 2004). As grow-ops become more clever and high tech, it will be harder for law enforcement to track and shut down these operations making it more tempting for a future grower to begin his or her own grow-op. Growers will always stay one step ahead of law enforcement, and no matter how much money is spent on attempting to shut down operations, it will most likely never be enough to put every grower out of business. It is estimated that legalizing marijuana would save $13.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition (Reuteman, 2010). Over 700,000 people are arrested on Marijuana related charges, most of them being non-violent crimes such as possession (Stevens, 2012). There are more arrests made on marijuana charges than violent crimes such as rape, robbery, and murder combined (Stevens, 2012). Prisoners incarcerated for Marijuana related crimes totaled nearly 60,000 in a 1999 study, costing taxpayers nearly 1.2 billion dollars to keep them behind bars (Stevens, 2012). Sure the thought of one less drug dealer on the streets may sound appealing, but most dealers are in gangs, and when one is caught or killed, someone else moves in to replace them. Even catching members that have a high ranking in a gang simply means that someone else in that gang will just move up in a ranking. Bottom line is that sending a dealer to jail will have little to no impact on reducing the sale of drugs on the streets, and taxpayers will end up paying roughly $47,000 for every year that dealer is incarcerated (California, 2012). Prisons are also becoming over capacitated, a lot having to do with prisoners being held for nonviolent crimes. As a result, taxpayers are the ones having to pay for new prisons to be built instead of something more beneficial to a taxpayer such as a new school or a new hospital. In 2008, the 50 states spent $52 billion on corrections, almost all of it on prisons (Boeri, 2011). Even with all of that money being dumped into the correctional system, 42% of criminals return to jail within three years or being released (Kolifrath, 2011). Prisoners are released from jail, need to make some quick cash, meet up with their former gang, and start selling again. Then they are caught for the same crime, given a longer sentence, and put back in jail for taxpayers to pay for their housing for the remainder of their new sentence. It’s an ongoing process that drains the money out of the taxpayers’ pockets when potentially, Marijuana could be generating revenue. If Marijuana was taxed at a comparable rate to cigarettes and alcohol, an estimated 6.6 billion dollars could be generated annually (Wastler, 2005). That amount could easily increase or decrease depending on if a fixed price was set per gram or ounce. Also, no one knows for sure what the number of Marijuana users would be if it became legal. In 2007, 14.4 million Americans admitted to smoking weed within the last month in a 2007 survey (Burnett, 2009). That number could increase significantly if Marijuana became legal, or it could remain nearly the same. Even if there was no increase in users if Marijuana became legal, there is certainly still a high demand with roughly 14.4 million users. Overall, this war on drugs has no end in sight and is costing the taxpaying citizen far too much. Many will agree that Marijuana remaining illegal is doing more harm than good both crime wise, as well as financially. It’s no longer 1936 where people got their facts about Marijuana from ‘Reefer Madness”. We have evolved and we now get our facts from creditable studies, many of which have contradicted many myths concerning Marijuana. These studies include long term use of Marijuana not causing permanent brain damage, (Kirchheimer, 2003) and Marijuana being unlikely to cause lung cancer (Peck, 2008). There are even studies proving potential medical benefits of Marijuana such as Marijuana being used to fight tumors. (Laino, 2007). The list goes on and it is becoming clear to many that there would be both economic benefits, as well as potential medical benefits if the prohibition on Marijuana was brought to an end.Works Cited"Al Capone ” Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." ?€” History Made Every Day ?€” American & World History. Web. 10 July 2012. <, David. "Prison Overcrowding, Rising Costs Prompt Surprising Reforms | WBUR." WBUR. 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 July 2012. <, John. "What If Marijuana Were Legal? Possible Outcomes : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. N.p., 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 17 July 2012. <;."California Criminal Justice FAQ: How much does it cost to incarcerate an inmate?." California Legislative Analyst's Office. Web. 17 July 2012. < for Disease Control and Prevention. "CDC - Fact Sheet - Tobacco-Related Mortality - Smoking & Tobacco Use." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Kathleen. "Drug Overdose Deaths on the Rise." WebMD - Better information. Better health. 22 Sep. 2008. Web. 29 July 2012. <. "Annual Causes of Death in the United States | Drug War Facts." Welcome | Drug War Facts. Web. 12 July 2012. <, Lanna. "Marijuana supply, sales, and seizures." CEDRO Centrum voor Drugsonderzoek. N.p., 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Sid. "Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain." WebMD - Better information. Better health. 3 Jul. 2003. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Jessica. "Forty Percent of Criminals Return to Prison Within Three Years | All News Wire." All News Wire. 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Charlene. "Marijuana May Fight Lung Tumors." WebMD - Better information. Better health. 17 Apr. 2007. Web. 14 July 2012. <;."Overdose | Drug War Facts." Welcome | Drug War Facts. Web. 9 July 2012. <, Peggy. "Marijuana Unlikely to Cause Cancer." WebMD - Better information. Better health. 8 May. 2000. Web. 29 July 2012. <;."Prohibition” Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." ?€” History Made Every Day ?€” American & World History. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Rob. "The Cost-and-Benefit Arguments Around Enforcement - CNBC." Stock Market News, Business News, Financial, Earnings, World Market News and Information - CNBC. N.p., 6 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Amanda. "The Raw Story | Legalizing marijuana allows police to focus on violent crimes." The Raw Story | America's #1 completely independent news and politics source. Web. 9 July 2012. <;."The Price of Weed, Marijuana, Cannabis - ." The Price of Weed, Marijuana, Cannabis - . Web. 29 July 2012. <;. Brady, Pete -. "The ultimate grow room | Cannabis Culture." Cannabis Culture | Marijuana Magazine. N.p., 29 June 2004. Web. 29 July 2012. <, Allen. "Marijuana legalization could make billions of dollars. - Jun. 7, 2005." CNNMoney - Business, financial and personal finance news. N.p., 7 June 2005. Web. 12 July 2012. <. "Alcohol linked to 75,000 U.S. deaths a year - Health - Addictions - ." Breaking News & Top Stories - World News, US & Local - . N.p., 25 June 2005. Web. 29 July 2012. <;. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download