Legalizing Marijuana Essay, Research Paper

Legalizing Marijuana

Marijuana becoming legal is a topic every American should agree on. The reason being is it would benefit Americans in three ways; there would be less crowding in jails, it would create more tax income, and it would cut down the amount of crime in the country. First, marijuana becoming legalized would be beneficial to the United States because it would reduce the crowding in jails. In 1998 alone nearly 750,000 Americans were arrested for minor marijuana possessions (www.masscann.org). If this number was eliminated it would greatly reduce the crowding problems in already minimally spaced jails. This would also reduce taxes because the money needed to house these inmates wouldn’t be needed.

Legalizing marijuana would also create another source for tax income. This would benefit Americans because it would hopefully then reduce other taxes. In the United States every year an estimated $7 billion is spent on marijuana (www.drugabuse.gov). If marijuana were taxed at 7% there would be an extra tax income of $49 million. This money could be used for an agreed upon cause towards something, or used to lesson the overall taxes. Either way it would be something beneficial to Americans.

Crime in the United States would go down drastically if marijuana were legalized. This would be because users wouldn’t be breaking laws anymore. Their recreational use would not be illegal; therefore no crime would be committed. In conclusion Americans should agree on marijuana becoming legal because of the great benefits it would have for the entire United States. Some examples on how it would be beneficial, are; the reduction of inmates in jails, acquiring more tax income, and reducing crime.