Recreational Marijuana Research Paper

Submitted By Hkylec1
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Pages: 3

Marijuana Legalization Should recreational marijuana be legalized in the United States? NORML (pg. 145-146) is the (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and they support the removal of penalties for private possession of small amounts of marijuana. This process is known as the Decriminalization of marijuana smokers. More than thirty percent of the United States population lives under the Decriminalization laws and studies show that there hasn’t been any negative effect on adolescents in any way. Also studies have shown that the amount of consumption of marijuana has virtually stayed the same. The enforcement of prohibition has cost tax payers over ten billion dollars a year in annual taxes. Prohibition also results in the arrests of over 829,000 in marijuana related charges. Former president Jimmy Carter had this to say, “Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual then the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use.”(pg. 146) according to NORML marijuana is the least dangerous drug in America. The two products of alcohol and tobacco are responsible for more than 400,000 deaths per year. Marijuana on the other hand is a nontoxic substance and cannot cause death due to overdose. (Pg.146-147) NORML supports the eventual development of a legally controlled marked for marijuana, where consumers could buy marijuana for personal use from a sage legal source. The policy, commonly known as legalization, exists on different levels in a handful of European countries. For example the Netherlands and Switzerland both use the legalization policy and both countries enjoy lower rates of adolescent marijuana use than the United States. The system of legalization would reduce many of the problems presently associated with the prohibition of marijuana. These problems include serious crime rate, corruption and violence all things that come with the territory of a “black market”. (pg. 148)
A main issue when talking about the legalization of marijuana is the effects of prohibition on government funds. As of now with prohibition in effect there is a direct cost for the enforcement of marijuana laws. If legalization were in effect these costs would be at zero and the government could put taxes on