My hometown is Oak Park, the town that touches the city limits of Chicago and a residential area called the Austin Community. Austin is a really poor, drug-ridden, no landscaping, and high risk area. To this day I find the differences between Oak Park (a moderately well-off, high security, big lawns and houses, educated community) and the Austin Community astounding. Traveling north east into the city on a side street, you immediately see the difference between Oak Park and the Austin Community. Why? Probably because communities like Austin get lost in the bustle of the million-populated city of Chicago.
However, the city still manages to overflow into Oak Park. The most prominent things you see are violence and drug trafficking. Oak Park used to be a hippie town, but there are still a lot of people who do drugs).
But because of Austin or because of the hippies, there are still a lot of drugs. And because of this fact, there is a huge debate about legalizing marijuana.
The Pros:
-Creates a new market
-Creates specialized jobs
-Creates revenue
-Possible taxes on weed could help the government
The Cons:
-Eliminates jobs (dealers who can’t keep up with the market)
-Potheads everywhere
-Price fluxes
-Loss of badassery (excuse the raw vocabulary choice) feeling for drug-users
There will always be marijuana in the world because it is a plant. It’s just plain botany. So America’s society faces fighting peoples’ desires and enforcing laws against weed, or legalizing it, and opening up this new market. What are some other effects on the economy by legalizing marijuana? What are your opinions?
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I think that the market should be opened. If marijuana was legal it would be much easier to regulate and like you pointed out it would create jobs. In Ann Arbor, where I am from there has always been a more laid back enforcement of legal laws regarding marijuana use. There are a whole lot more bigger issues facing the country other than trying to outlaw something that is always going to be.
ReplyDeleteIf marijuana was legalized it would probably face a lot of the same issues that are happening currently with cigarettes. Certainly there would be a luxury tax. There would also most likely be strict regulations on where and when it was acceptable to smoke. At the same time, lifting the ban on marijuana could be similar to the effect the lifting of prohibition had in the U.S. The government would suddenly have a huge increase in revenue. Dr. Miron, an economist who gave economic support to the legalization of marijuana, suggested that legalization would both cut the costs of enforcement and add to the revenue of the U.S. because of taxation. He claimed that “legalization would reduce government expenditure by $5.3 billion at the state and local level and by $2.4 billion at the federal level” and that “marijuana legalization would generate tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco.” (The report can be found at http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html). While this does give an economic incentive to legalizing marijuana, however, other implications must be considered. For example, while marijuana itself may not be that dangerous, it is considered a “gateway” drug.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think weed should be legalized. By doing so, the government could tax the sale of it and profit from the numerous buyers. There is a great supply and demand of weed even though it's still illegal, so why not capitalize on it. I'm sure some will say that everyone would be stoned all the time and everything would collapse but weed is readily available and the system is working. Legalize it and make some cash.
ReplyDeleteI can understand both sides of the argument. Personally, I think that it should probably be legalized. The government will never be able to make everyone happy, but still, I think a lot of issues would be fixed with the legalization of the drug.
ReplyDeleteBesides, there would be a hell of a profit.
Interesting information. Prior to reading Waytes' statistics about how much $billion, i didn't knw that the legalisation of marijuana would be so profitable. I agree, marijuana should be made legal. Afterall, it is still being smuggled and smoked. Why not place tax on it and create jobs? Legal or not, it is still a $multi-million trade carried out in the United States, transported using US facilities: roads, ports, etc., so why not make it legal and charge for using government's facilities?
ReplyDeleteI'm not all for legalizing weed in the United States, but I do agree with what Nick said. Just like cigarettes are taxed, the U.S. should tax weed if it is legalized. Marijuana would be a new good market to get into. I think violence levels would fall because there would be no major drug wars, especially if all drugs were legalized. Government regulations and inspections on weed would make it safer to use for the people as well. I think more jobs would open up then would be lost (drug dealers) if weed was legalized. (A)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Jason. A ton of independent business have already been started in areas where medicinal marijuana dispensaries are permitted. Fortune magazine ran a cover story on it. In fact, I've heard about a guy in Detroit (I could have the city wrong) who is offering classes on marijuana as a business.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that marijuana should be legalized for the pros that Christine listed. I remember reading about Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal on how California should legalize marijuana. He suggested that if they put a tax on marijuana, it would benefit the state greatly, and create new revenue. It would also create a new market and with that, new jobs. Legalizing marijuana would also benefit the government, if they did indeed put a tax on the drug. The cons Christine listed, in my opinion, don't even come close to outweighing the pros. The fact of the matter is, this country needs a creation of new jobs and a new money flow, and it is clear legalizing marijuana will do this. These are desperate times and legalizing a drug that really doesn't hurt anyone that is against it, and in fact could help those against it that are in need of jobs, should favor this. (A)
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if marijuana has been legalized in some cities but if it were to be legalize then less people would be in jail which would mean that police would save some money and use it for other emergencies. A new market would be created and less people would get into trouble. Although that the market has a risk of having more potheads, the benefit of creating a new market at this time where the economy is not going so good would be helpful. A
ReplyDeleteLegalizing Marijuana would definitely have its benefits. It would create an entirely new, booming market in our economy. Also, like Dulce mentions above me, our government would spend much less money on putting pot smokers in jail. The way I look at this debate is kind of like prohibition in the 1920's. Alcohol used to be illegal but seems to be a pretty big market now.
ReplyDeleteI'll jump on the bandwagon and agree that legalizing marijuana could have great economic benefits. (A)
ReplyDeleteI suppose if you really want to see the effects of legalizing pot, you should study the effects on Amsterdam. One negative side effect of marijuana is that it kills motivation and drive, blazed potheads rarely stimulate anything. Just look at Amsterdam, what have they done lately? They can't even screen international flights effectively. ;)
ReplyDeleteA
Could one say that if marijuana were to become legalized the market would blossom? On one hand you could argue that drug dealers would be legit and would have a higher demand because more people would want to try it.However, the affects that marijuana has on the mind and body is horrible. In short, It will mess you up. Think about it, do we really want potheads walking around our community? You can say that by legalizing marijuana that it will benefit the market but think about all the social disasters that will result. In my opinion marijuana is not good for the economy nor for any area.
ReplyDeleteA
Legalizing Marijuana would have great economic benefits in my opinion. We can't really say eliminating Jobs is much of a con because a) The 'Job' was illegal and b) it'll probably create more jobs than destroy. All around a good investment. A
ReplyDeleteI can see how legalizig marijuana can be profitable for the country. Controlling who buys it and who sells it and taxing the sales on marijuana can have great benefits for our economy. The only thing is there would definately have regulations on where you are allwed to smoke it, age your allowed to purchase, and there should be sever penalties for breaking these rules. Just as their are these regulations for alchohol i feel it is very similiar and can greatly benefit the economy. (a)
ReplyDeleteI'm all for legalizing marijuana as well. In addition to the economic benefits, I believe it would seriously reduce crime, and not just the crimes of dealing and possessing marijuana. This stems from the fact that, were marijuana to be made available legally, the violent gangs often involved in its production/distribution would lose an important source of income. Less money associated with being in a gang would in turn mean less incentive to be in or join a gang, and would likely result in decreased gang membership overall.
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement with all these college kids who really want pot to be legal. But I also would just like to say that one of the cons listed--the badassery one--I think should really go in the pro section because if the government wants to reduce the use of pot legalizing it and thus making it not that cool would do that.
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