Marijuana Legalization

Why should marijuana be legal?

* People have a basic right to make choices for themselves as long as their actions do not harm others.

Responsible individuals in a free society should be allowed to choose whether or not they use marijuana. Individual liberty is a fundamental value.

* The government is wasting our time and money by prohibiting marijuana.

Taxpayers are forced to pay billions of dollars to persecute, prosecute, and incarcerate people for having marijuana. If marijuana were legal and regulated (like alcohol and tobacco) this money, plus tax revenues from marijuana sales, could be used for other purposes such as education and health care.

* Prohibition is not an effective solution to the problems associated with marijuana use.

Marijuana, like tobacco and alcohol, can be abused. But prohibition is expensive and ineffective; education and regulation are better solutions. Regulating sales of marijuana and teaching people the truth about its health effects will allow us to minimize the harms and costs to society.

* We have learned a lesson from history.

Alcohol prohibition did not work, and there is no logical reason to believe that marijuana prohibition is a better idea.

* Marijuana Legalization and the Revenue From Marijuana Sales

* The study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for $8.60 on the street, while its cost of production was only $1.70. In a free market, a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long. Entrepreneurs noticing the great profits to be made in the marijuana market would start their own grow operations, increasing the supply of marijuana on the street, which would cause the street price of the drug to fall to a level much closer to the cost of production. Of course, this doesn't happen because the product is illegal; the prospect of jail time deters many entrepreneurs and the occasional drug bust ensures that the supply stays relatively low. We can...