Thesis Statement
Marijuana should be legalized to reduce the costly prison population, increase tax benifits, and destigmatize those using marijuana for medical benifits.
DISCLAIMER
This blog is an assignment for CMP 272 Spring 2008 to allow students an opportunity to present valid arguments, generate feedback, and practice moderating skills in a technological environment.
Should It Be Legal
Can you think of anything that the United States can do with an extra $5 billion dollars a year? It is estimated that each year it takes almost that much for law enforcement to keep pressing the marijuana laws. Now guess where that money is coming from. That's right; it's us, the tax payers. Almost 23% of the prison population is people convicted of drug related charges.
So here is my solution for this problem. If the people that are running this country would grow it, legalize it, put an age on it and tax it, many of our problems would go away. They could useour tax money on something more important like cutting us a break on gas prices. There would be room in prisons for people like murderers and rapists, the people who really need to be there. Finally, it seems to me that if marijuana were to be legal, the USA would make more money than it is spending.
Adding up all the numbers, the federal government would have additional revenues of $6 billion a year and the states an additional $17 billion for a combined total of $23 billion a year. This money could pay for the entire food stamp program, provide a tax rebate of approximately $150 per taxpayer per year or pay for a war with an axis of evil regime. Washington state's portion of the marijuana pie would be $330 million; that might not be enough to solve our next budget crisis, but it is a start.
