Legalize

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English 4-5

30 October 2015

Legalize Marijuana

In the United States, the legalization of marijuana is a hot topic. There are so many pros and cons making it hard for the states to make a decision. A few states have already legalized it because of the obvious benefits that would ensue. Marijuana should be legalized because the government could profit in revenue, citizens would have a safer option, and the strain caused by the substantial prison population would decrease.

If marijuana were legalized, the government would profit millions of dollars in revenue from taxation. 21,865 metric tons are sold in the US annually, but the government is not receiving any benefit from this ("The Supply of Marijuana to the United States"). Drug dealers are the only people making money off of a market that could greatly lower the national debt of the United States. People think if marijuana is legalized the market of tobacco, which brought in $15,753,355,199 of income in 2009, will decrease ("How Much Is the Government Making Off of Tobacco"). However, smokers of tobacco will continue to buy tobacco because they are addicted to it and it is difficult to stop. Therefore, the market of tobacco would not decrease, but the government would profit enormously from the revenues that could come from marijuana.

With the legalization of weed, more people will use it to get to an irregular state of mind than some of the more dangerous substances such as alcohol and K2. K2 has caused many deaths over the past year because of the dangerous and unknown ingredients. K2 is commonly used because it cannot be detected on a drug test. If marijuana were legal, there would not be a need to smoke K2 because there would be no repercussions for smoking pot. Furthermore, driving under the influence of alcohol resulted in 10,076 deaths in car accidents ("Impaired Driving: Get the Facts”). Also, many people who get drunk...