The Legalization And Regulation Of Marijuana

Legalizing marijuana would make the drug easily accessible, which could potential lead to abuse and potential health effects in adolescence and adults that abuse the drug. This law could potentially increase crimes and the number of arrests for driving under the influence of drugs, which puts the safety of our citizens at risk. States should consider their options in order to fight legalizing of marijuana in their states. This paper provides some concepts around the impacts a state could incur and encourages the state to look beyond dollars earned and to ensure the state understands some of the impacts associated such as higher accidents and fatalities, increased criminal activity and a higher number homeless people. This could be solved by maintaining the federal regulations on controlled substances by the federal government. It is encouraged that the state careful consider if this is a viable option for the state and consider enhancing the policies around medicinal marijuana

There has been major news forming around the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. Medical marijuana has been effective in Colorado since 2000. Now marijuana is legal for recreational use for people 21 and up. Many rules and regulations follow the legalization of marijuana. Many people of Colorado fear this legalization, where others are totally for it and think it will help boost Colorado’s economy. I have found many

In the preceding years, when ferocious battles were waged over the wisdom of legalization, both in direct conversations and of course, on the internet, marijuana proponents made boasts about what a major positive impact on government budgets making pot legal would have. To people familiar with economics, basic math and tax policy, these arguments seemed very weak, and that is exactly what they have been proven to be in the first years of Colorado’s new drug era.

This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.

The marijuana industry offers benefits to the state and the economy of Colorado. However, there are significant factors businesses should consider in regards to profitability. The first consideration is the limitations of high costs of doing business and heavy regulation, or barriers to entry, on marijuana retailing and production. Secondly, the threat of substitutes, home-grown marijuana and the illegal marijuana as the supply source for price sensitive users. Lastly, the vast difference in the target market, in usage and

In the United States, twenty-one states have no laws on legal marijuana use, even for medicinal marijuana. Another twenty-one have legalized marijuana for medical use only. As for the other eight, those states have legalized the use marijuana for medicinal and recreational. The states that have fully legalized marijuana have seen a boost in the economy due to taxes from marijuana sales. Along with helping the economy, marijuana is proven to provide medical aid for illnesses, such as cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. The legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use will be a benefit to society.

Not only can money be gained through tax revenue if it was legalized but money that was previously spent because of marijuana prohibition can now be saved. Every year our country spends $68 billion on prisoners with one-third of them being imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes (half of these being marijuana-related charges). Therefore, legalizing marijuana would save $11.3 billion because it wouldn’t be spent on prisons. That money being spent on prisons is your tax dollars! Not only does keeping those in prison with marijuana-related charges cost a lot but so does time and money of our police enforcement when they have to charge someone simply having a joint in their home or with friends. Imagine how much police officers could focus on other crimes if they didn’t have to worry about marijuana charges.

The increase in money that the United States will save and earn will help profoundly in the amount of debt we have gain over time. It the ability to build better schools, roads, and other aspects we are lacking as a country. Some people may always feel that the effects are still far too uncontrollable to let be allowed and socially acceptable, but when put next to alcohol use in comparison it is highly the better option. Alcohol and other illegal drugs put you in a completely different state of mind that it can make a person black out and not remember a single decision they might have made the night before. Along with the many positive effects marijuana is shown in the medical field legalization whether medical or recreational can prove to have many more positive outcomes than

To explore the economic benefits of marijuana legalization we must first look at the amount of marijuana that is purchased by users. The White House Office of National Drug Policy reported that between 1988 and 1995, Americans spent about 7 billion dollars on the illegal substance, averaging about a billion dollars a year (Prislac, 2009). This means that annually there is a billion dollars out there that is subject to no sales tax. The national average for sales tax is 5%, so if you calculate the billion dollars being spent on marijuana, this means there is approximately 50 million dollars in sales tax that our government never gets

According to Sherry Robinson, a syndicated columnist with the Daily times, Colorado approved medical marijuana in 2000, and it 's now a $200 million industry that pays more than $5 million a year in state sales taxes. The state and cities are now salivating over potential revenues from recreational marijuana sales but must find the equilibrium between a "good tax" and one that drives cannabis sales underground. Now that Colorado has legalized marijuana for recreational use, it will boost the economy even more. A huge percentage of what is made will be going to the school system in Colorado. This will make a huge difference in the education system. This is a huge benefit that many parents and teachers are looking forward to. The legalization of marijuana will help create many jobs for Colorado residents also. People will be needed to grow and distribute marijuana.

As shops for recreational and medical Marijuana open, more purchases of the product will be made which impacts the tax revenue. An example would be Colorado (a state that legalizes Marijuana) where “In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana” (Krishna, 2017). Arcview Market Research also predicts that “Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021”. The legalization of Marijuana will also provide many job opportunities since a variety of different jobs will be needed that relate to Marijuana. Investopedia.Com states “A RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect, and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion”. Another way legalizing Marijuana would impact the economy positively is that the government can save money spent on enforcing the law of Marijuana being illegal. Huffington post states “Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually, according to a 2007 study, AlterNet reports.” and “The government would save an estimated $13.7 billion on prohibition enforcement costs and tax revenue by legalizing marijuana”.This low risk substance saves the economy a lot of money and support it

November,8, 2016 the ballots were dispersed and votes were submitted. Question four on the ballot was known as the “The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.” The numbers came in and beginning December 15, 2016 in Massachusetts, individuals above the age of twenty-one will now be able to legally purchase, possess, cultivate, and use marijuana, with limitations on quantity, for recreational and medicinal use under the statutes of the state laws. While the prohibition of marijuana in Massachusetts has ended, many new movements must now begin to maintain, regulate, and pursue a positive outcome. With other states that have already passed such laws, such as Colorado, Massachusetts will begin to piggyback off their models. Developing a system that will hopefully come to fruition of all the possibilities and benefits this new law has promised.

My strategic policy is absolute legalization of marijuana to honor the majority of population that advocate legalization. Key elements of marijuana legalization policies should include federal and state excise taxes on production, distribution, and sales along with licensed market participation, age restrictions, and prohibitions on advertising and marketing to minors. Skeptics argues against legalization as a way of reducing teenage access, for example, by citing teenage access to alcohol and tobacco in a legal market despite age restrictions and related penalties. Replacing the façade of control provided by current policies with effective regulatory policies is also the first step in enacting effective policies to reduce teenage marijuana

The legalization of marijuana is an issue that has divided many Americans. While some Americans call for its legalization, others are set on keeping the drug illegal. Recently, however, there have been changes in public attitudes about marijuana and its legalization. This has led individual states to enact marijuana laws that create tensions with federal law. This paper will examine the recent events of legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, and the conflict between federal and state marijuana laws.

Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.