| Legalizing Marijuana |
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| GOMEZ DAVID (NEWPORT NEWS)ENG 120
2/1/14
| | Legalizing Marijuana |
| |
| GOMEZ DAVID (NEWPORT NEWS)ENG 120
2/1/14
|Legalizing Marijuana of Today
Abraham Lincoln once said “Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes (N.d).” The prohibition of marijuana has proven to be a failure and a waste of resources. In addition, prohibition has hurt society more than it has helped. Also, marijuana can be used as a medicine to treat many life threatening illnesses. The legalization of marijuana will generate enormous tax revenue, reduce crime, and avoid unnecessary records for youth of today. Enforcing cannabis laws costs an estimated $10-15 billion annually (Nadelmann, 2004). This enormous amount of money could be used for many other things, but instead is being wasted. Marijuana prohibition is a failure. In fact, even though marijuana remains completely illegal it is the nation’s leading cash crop. Nearly $36 billion worth of cannabis is grown each year in the US. This exceeds corn, grossing $23 billion, soybeans making $17.6 billion, and hay which earns $12.2 billion annually. California alone grows $13.8 billion worth of cannabis annually (Glaister, 2006). Drug laws have successfully reduced the flow of marijuana into the US. This success is the main reason for the colossal amount of cannabis produced here. Large amounts of marijuana are now grown on U.S. soil because of the risks involved in transporting it across borders. If prohibition were effective, it would not force marijuana to be the nation’s leading cash crop (Nadelmann, 2004). When marijuana is made legal, tax money generated from its growth and sale will dwarf the amount of money currently spent fighting it.  A 2009 study by the California Board of Equalization estimated a marijuana tax could add $1.4 billion to the California…