Introduction
Marijuana and its medicinal use is one of the most debatable and controversial topics in the United States today. Many people argue that it posses medicinal benefits and should therefore made legal. On the other hand, some say that it has high potential for addiction and should therefore remain illegal. Among these arguments, the proponents for medical marijuana have proposed a strong argument for legalization through application of research and evidence. People have extensively used marijuana for medicinal purposes for more than six thousand years. As early as 1900s, medicinal usage of marijuana started declining with the arrival of alternative drugs. Inject-able synthetic drugs and opiates including barbiturates and aspirin began to serve as alternative to marijuana in the twentieth century, as their results demonstrated to be more desirable and consistent in comparison to the sometimes erratic impacts of potent marijuana (Barcott, 13). In addition, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 made cannabis so expensive such that obtaining it for medicinal usage in the United States came to a halt. Even though medicinal marijuana is illegal in most states in the US, it continues to be used for both recreational and medicinal purposes by many Americans. There exists a variety of opinions for those who are against and those for the legalization of medicinal usage of marijuana today. The major question that has been in most forums in the United States and the world is that, should Marijuana be legalized in the United States? In my opinion, I think outlawing medicinal marijuana is unethical.
Discussion
The legalization of marijuana is an issue of ongoing debate in the United States. Marijuana, which comes from the hemp plant, cannabis sativa, is a common street and recreational drug. The history of marijuana and its use dates back to hundreds of years, with some people smoking it with pipe or water pipe. The drug is so popular with the public that it has developed many aliases, such as ganja, weed, pot, Mary Jane, grass, and over two hundred other names. Some effect of using marijuana include dry throat, dry mouth, delayed reaction, increased heart rate, impaired coordination and balance, and diminished short-term memory (COED, 2010). According to a survey conducted by the U.S. government, about 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more that 14 million Americans smoke regularly despite harsh laws against it use (COED, 2010). Marijuana should be legalized because it is far less dangerous tobacco and alcohol, it has many positive attributes, and those convicted on marijuana charges take up space in correctional facilities.
Marijuana, labeled as an illegal substance is far less dangerous and addictive than tobacco and alcohol, and scientists have not been able to link it to cancer like in the case of tobacco. According to (COED, 2010), approximately 50,000 people die annually from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, tobacco kills more than 400,000 people and costs the U.S. more than $96 billion in health care expenditures and $97 billion in lost productivity (COED, 2010). By comparison, marijuana is a nontoxic drug and cannot cause death by overdose. Scientists agree that smoking cigarette is the single biggest cause of cancer in the United States (COED, 2010). It would therefore be reasonable to judge marijuana as less of a threat compared to tobacco and alcohol.
Use of marijuana has positive attributes to the user, such as its use as a recreational drug and medical use with relatively mild side effects. Marijuana has always occupied humanity’s chest for almost as long as man has existed. Scientists suggest that marijuana aid in the treatment of a wide range of clinical applications. These include pain relief and appetite stimulant for people suffering from AIDS. Of all the negative consequences of prohibiting marijuana, the effects are felt most by tens of thousands of patients who could gain from medical marijuana.
The United States and the federal government face financial constrains. The national debt is estimated to be sixty percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which has maintained since the World War II. There are projections of this ratio moving up to 75% or more by the year 2020 (Barcott, 23). This also interprets a shortfall in the national budget. Efforts have been made to combat this phenomenon by reducing expenditure while increasing tax, these have achieved little success. The only looming solution to this solution would be including all parts of the economy in the national financial concern and making them to remit taxes.
Marijuana production and consumption in the United States is high enough that if it were legalized and the producers and consumers are put to remit revenue to the government, the average revenue collected from this would help finance the government budget. The expenditure on criminal justice related to the use and possession of this drug could either be abandoned, or redirected to other essential priorities.
A recent study concluded by the Cato Institute established that legalization of drugs reduces government expenditure by averagely $41.3 billion annually. Legalization of marijuana is estimated to constitute $8.7 billion of this amount. The move would also produce a tax revenue of close to $46.7 billion annually if the imposition of tax incentives were relative to other legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco (Gogolak, 41). Marijuana’s legalization would produce averagely $8.7 billion of this amount annually.
These revenues collected on the legalization of marijuana would result from the revenue imposed on producers of this product. The consumers are also bound to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) when they purchase the drug from stalls or supermarkets. The ferrying or shipping (if desired by the transporter) would also raise revenue to the governments. Vendors also remit revenue to the local government. All these put together would raise revenue by the aforementioned estimate.
The savings on the budgets result from the reduced expenditure on criminal justice. The costs involved in the prohibition of this drug result from the police involved in this department, the prosecutors, and the prison guards among others. When marijuana is legalized, the above costs reduce by almost half. The resulting amounts from the cut-down expenditures could be channeled to other vote heads in the economy.
When one state legalizes the drug while its neighbors put restrictions on Bhang, there is deemed to be rivalry at the borders of these states. This would imply that the states that continue to restrict the legal use of this drug would have to beef up security at the boarders in a move to combat crimes related to Bhang in such areas. The increased security would imply that the federal government would have to increase its expenditure related to this discipline (Gogolak, 43). Therefore, the former intention of cutting expenditure would not be met by the federal government.
Conclusion
In conclusion, marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use, but with restrictions on it like with tobacco and alcohol. This would enable medical professionals offer an alternative less harmful drugs. It would also help reduce organized crimes. With examples from several states that have legalized marijuana, legalization of this drug would increase revenue received from the trade of the trade and reduce expenditure related to the drug. For instance, the legal police and security personnel fighting marijuana could be deployed to other sectors and the money used in the judicial proceedings reallocated.
Works Cited:
Bruce Barcott. Marijuana and Medical Marijuana. The New York Times. May 14, 2013. Web May 16, 2013.
E. C. Gogolak. Trying to Sell Wall Street on the Value of Marijuana. The New York Times Web June 14, 2013.
