Legalizing Marijuana - to Legalize or to Criminalize: That Is the Question

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excuse of medical marijuana can be countered by the fact that there are other medications, and

that cocaine should also be legalized since it has stronger numbing effect than marijuana. Even

further, the legalization of pot will increase consumption which will lead to higher public health

and financial costs for the government. Like alcohol and tobacco, which are legal and taxed,

result in much higher social costs than the revenue they provide. For example, the cost of alcohol

is 15 times higher than the revenue gained from its taxation(whithouse.gov), and for every one

dollar collected in tobacco tax revenue there is a loss for ten dollars in social cost

(newyorktimes.com). The total costs of substance abuse in the U.S, including productivity,

health and crime related costs, exceed $ 600 billion annually; $ 235 billion for alcohol, $ 193

billion for tobacco and $ 181 billion for illicit drugs. Additionally, federal and state alcohol taxes

raise about $ 14.5 billion, covering only about six percent of alcohol’s cost to the society, and $

25 billion from tobacco covering only about 23 percent of tobacco’s cost to the society.

(Michelle Schultz)

Also, the experience from Colorado is not too promising. Two independent reports published

August 2013 showed that the state has failed in regulating the new industry (Colorado office of

the state auditor), the use rate among Colorado teens is 11.6 percent above the national average

which is 7.6 percent (the impact,9-13), and the drug related referrals for high school students

testing positive for marijuana has increased. Additionally, medical marijuana is easily diverted to

youth, the number of fatal car crashes with drivers testing positive to pot rose sharply (rocky

mountain HIDTA), and the number of reported crimes increased from 2012 through 2014 by

12.3% (43,867 crimes reported in 2012, 49,258 reported crimes in 2014). (legalization of

marijuana: the impact). Moreover, Colorado does raise about $ 98 million in tax from sale of

marijuana, but plans on spending $ 45 million for youth use prevention and $ 40.4 million for

substance abuse.

In conclusion, why would anyone feel the need to make such a dangerous drug legal and

accessible to our young people how are the future of this country? Isn’t the society suffering

enough because of alcohol and tobacco? Do we really need to add pot on top of all that?

Marijuana is illegal and should remain that way if any reasonable person wants to have an alert

society not a high one.

Citation references:

“Marijuana” whitehouse.gov

“Michelle Schultz” the independent. web

Colorado Office of the State Auditor. (2013). & City of Denver Office of the Auditor. (2013).

NSDUH, Summary of National Findings, 2012. Retrieved from

www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2012SummNatFindDetTables/NationalFindings/NSDUHresults2012.pdf

Rocky Mountain HIDTA. (2013). Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact.

Salomonsen-Sautel, S., et al. (2012). Medical marijuana use among adolescents in substance abuse

treatment. Journal of American Academic Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(7)

“Drug Facts: Marijuana” 2016. National institute on drug abuse. Web. 2016

“Caron” 2016. Web

Marijuana Policy Project. "Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized." Drug Legalization. Ed.

Noël Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Rpt. from

"Medical Marijuana Briefing Paper." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 June 2016

Legalized marijuana: an economic panacea? FLYNN, BILL. New Hampshire Business Review.

3/18/2016, Vol. 38 Issue 6, p28-28. 1p