This article is part of a PRO/CON opinion piece on marijuana. To view the opposing side, see here.
Friday, April 30, 2010
By Alexa Harrison
Staff Writer
The banning of illegal substances in the United States has been a habitual phenomenon since the earliest days of the country’s history. From Prohibition in the 1920s to the illegalization of marijuana, one thing has remained constant about these efforts throughout history: they have failed miserably. The new initiative to be voted on in California next November would embrace a new approach to these substances: legalization.
California’s marijuana initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess, share and transport up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use, and grow up to 25 square feet per residence or parcel. It would also allow local governments (but not the state) to authorize the cultivation and sale of marijuana and to impose marijuana taxes on it in order to raise revenues.
The initiative seeks to explain that prohibition of this drug does not work. There is no strong evidence that illegalization decreases drug use. However, there are several theories that suggest it actually increases drug use. Marijuana has, in fact, become dramatically more popular since its prohibition; therefore, once it is legal, the number of users is predicted to drop, according to CBS News.
Over 80 percent of high school seniors say that marijuana is easy to obtain and easier to buy than alcohol. This may be because alcohol has specific age-related laws to keep it away from kids. It is hard to see how making marijuana legal for adults would make it any more available to young people than it is already.
It is an established scientific fact that marijuana is not lethal to humans. Marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than users of alcohol or tobacco.
Marijuana is routinely described as the most lucrative crop in many states. Despite this fact, taxpayers are obliged to spend large sums of their own money each year in support of futile efforts to enforce a difficult and unnecessary prohibition on a substance that causes little harm. Police made roughly 800,000 arrests last year for possession of marijuana, mainly for tiny amounts. No other law is both enforced so widely yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the populace.
Californians currently spend millions of dollars every year to chase people whom are then placed in prison, and taxpayers must foot the bill.
Taxpayers pay for the food, housing and other expenses to jail these people. California, along with the 49 other states, could save billions of dollars every year by removing the economic burden of jailing marijuana users.
Ultimately, the issue of marijuana comes down to principle, as well as realism. the government should not be permitted to restrict people’s behavior as long as they are not harming themselves or society. Individuals deserve the right to decide whether or not they should use marijuana, whether for medical or recreational purposes. It would also be in the government’s best interest to tax marijuana.
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