Marijuana Free Market

Marijuana Free Market

The legalization of marijuana has been a great debate for a very long time. The current United Stated federal law is that possessing, producing or selling it is illegal. Many state laws allow the use of marijuana for an assortment of medical reasons and two states, Colorado and Washington, passed a law this year permitting the use of marijuana for recreational purposes for persons 21 and older. For these two states, it is still illegal to smoke it in public, buy it, or sell it. Contrary to any state laws, it is still a federal offense to buy, sell, or possess this drug (“Marijuana Resource..”). The Federal Government still classifies it as a Schedule I drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse and there is currently no accepted medical use. This war on drugs has cost the government a lot of money from prosecuting the criminals and putting them in jail. It has also caused them money because they cannot collect taxes on illegal drugs. Could a free market for marijuana help alleviate problems and what problems might it create?

Benefits

Creating a free market for marijuana would definitely help alleviate the financial burden the drug has caused. The average price of half a gram of the drug is sold for $8.60 on the street but the cost of production is only around $1.70. If the government transferred the profits from those that make it to the government through a tax on each marijuana cigarette, it would come to over $2 billion on Canadian sales and a lot more from an export tax (Moffatt). That is a lot of money that our government could be using right now when it really needs it. They would also save costs by having reduced incidents of prosecution and a reduced amount of people going to jail. Not only does it save them money, but it could also help save people’s health. Legalizing marijuana means that the government could regulate its quality to make sure that it is not biologically harmful. Thos that currently smoke it illegally...