Andrews blawg: Unit 6 Post: Legalization of Marijuana

For far too long the United States government has been keeping a medicine, healing substance, and a method of relaxation from the citizens of our otherwise free nation for Draconian reasons that have been disproven again and again by countless studies that all point one way: To the legalization of cannabis in America. Innocent people are being consistently prosecuted for “crimes” much less severe than those committed by fellow citizens which are left unpunished, and this unjust imbalance that has consumed our great nation must be halted before it is allowed to continue any further. The best way to solve a problem is to look at the beginning cause and work past that, so the logical step to take would be to look at why the unfair practice of marijuana prohibition was brought about in the first place. As early as the mid-1800’s, physicians had began to prescribe marijuana and extracts of marijuana to patients to act as a pain reliever and an appetite stimulant. After several years of mismanagement of many medicines by doctors, not just marijuana, the government passed what were known as the “poison laws”, which declared any substance not issued by a pharmaceutical company was to be labeled a poison. The malicious label of “poison” served only as the first step of the government distorting the view of the public on the topic of marijuana. In the early 20th century, states began passing laws that made the possession of marijuana in any form illegal. This was a move believed to stem from racism towards the small-farm Mexican workers who sometimes smoked pot after farming to relax after a long day. By the decade of the 1930’s, the government had created an agency called the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which released a slew of highly controversial ads all giving the message that marijuana makes the user overly violent and sexually aggressive, although neither of those claims had any backing to them. More and more of these factless advertisements were issued by the government, and, along with a movie that portrayed marijuana users as violent rebels, effectively silenced any of the critics of marijuana prohibition. The United States economy is in a state of despair, with thousands of the brightest minds in the country being utterly dumbfounded searching for a remedy. I realize legalizing marijuana will certainly not completely reverse the negative slope the economy is sliding down, but it would provide much needed stimulus to an already depleted financial system. Revenue from “Sin taxes” imposed by the government on alcohol and tobacco products are rising at a rate of 8% over every two years. If the government did legalize cannabis and put an equal tax rate on the crop, which is sold at street value for $20 a gram, the revenue generated by this would be unimaginable. With over 30% of the country admitting to using marijuana at least 5 times a year, if every person who admitted to using marijuana bought only 1 gram from the government for 20$ with a tax rate of 10%, the revenue the government would accumulate would be over $180,000,000. That is based on 30% of the population purchasing a gram once a year from the government. If legalized, imagine the revenue if 50% of the population purchased ounces from the government a year. The revenue, just from the taxing of marijuana distribution, has potential to reach well over $10 billion a year, a figure many economists believe to be highly possible. The government can not simply deny billions of dollars in revenue based solely on ancient laws, but that is exactly what they are doing now. My final reason as to why marijuana should be legalized is that the practice of apprehending and harshly punishing innocent pot smokers by the police is unjust and without reason. Many politicians, including Arnold Schwarzenneger, see this logic also, and Arnold was not afraid to voice his opinion on the topic, saying “that’s not a drug, that’s a leaf.” Why is someone who simply chooses to light up occasionally and relieve stress being mercilessly persecuted by our supposedly unbiased judicial system? Over half of the people in the prison system are there because of some sort of drug related crime, and over three quarters of those people are there because of marijuana. Retail thieves hurt not only the owner of the business they steal from, but consequently the manager and other employees of the business. Someone who chooses to smoke marijuana to relax or relieve pain in their own home can in no way be seen as invading on anyone elses rights, but pot smokers continue to be bullied by the ruthless police force set up to crack down on users of “the murder drug,” and are punished in many cases more severely than the retail thief who has obviously committed a more severe offence.

Marijuana users are obviously being unfairly targeted, and the health benefits are being held from the sick who are in dire need of the healing properties of cannabis. Despite legal experts like Michael Bloomberg saying, “yeah I smoked it, and I enjoyed it too”, legalization is still a cause begging for a spark, and it is wrong for Americans to sit back and watch innocent users be bullied by our “fair” justice system.