Legal Term Paper

Daniel Scarpulla

Professor Weisel

Introduction To Legal Systems, Environment and Contracts

14 April 2015

Prohibition Part 2

What would you say if I told you a medicine that had been used for over 5,000 years, with no reported deaths, was illegal? The legalization of marijuana is a very controversial subject because it is considered a drug, but modern day research proves that it is no more harmful than alcohol. Colorado made marijuana fully legal in 2012, as long as the consumer is over 21 years old, and if the whole country followed Colorado’s lead we could benefit economically as a whole. The problem is that not every state is on board with the idea, and some states such as Oklahoma and Nebraska are attempting to persuade the Supreme Court to declare Colorado’s legalization of marijuana illegal (Gershman). My goal in this paper is to educate the reader about marijuana and let them form their own opinion about if it should be made legal. This topic relates to the legal environment of business because there is debate between federal and state governments as well as statutes passed to alter laws.

One benefit of the legalization of marijuana is the economic incentive. The distribution of marijuana is a growing business that could provide our country with millions, maybe even billions, of extra dollars per year. In the last year, Colorado has made over 60 million dollars off of marijuana taxes, licenses and fees (State). These fees include sales tax of transfer, retail sales tax, excise tax, and license and application transfer fees. This number could be exponentially greater throughout the country in states with higher population than Colorado, such as New York. Not only would the government profit off of this, but regular people could too. The legalization of marijuana would lead to new jobs ranging from growers to dispensary workers. These growers would have to purchase more land if they don’t own the necessary amount, which helps all parties involved. The...