What would happen if they legalize marijuana?

Libertarian and proud of it

1. Innocent people would be kept out of jail. People who only wanted to smoke a joint wouldn't have to worry about prison. We wouldn't have any innocent people being raped and beaten in jail.
2. Our law enforcement could put more focus on serious crimes, such as murder, rape, carjacking, kidnapping and robbery. They wouldn't have to worry about marijuana.
3. We wouldn't be wasting our tax dollars on keeping harmless people in jail. Millions of people go to jail for marijuana annually. The taxpayers are the ones paying for this.
4. Without anyone going to jail for drug charges, there would be more room in prisons for rapists, murderers and robbers. We would have more room for people who need to be locked up. We are already releasing violent criminals early to make room for drug offenders.
5. The government would make money. There is a lot of money in marijuana. If marijuana was taxed, it would bring in serious profits.
6. Crime would decrease. Gangs make the majority of their money off of drugs. They control the drug market, because they're the only ones who have it. You can't walk into a store for marijuana. This money goes towards weapons, recruiting members and funding violent crimes, such as murder, robbery and kidnapping. But if marijuana was legalized, it would become readily available. They would lose control of the market. They would eventually not be able to sell it, so they'd have less money to put towards violent crimes. It is the same idea as Prohibition. Alcohol was made illegal. Gangs sold it, made money and gained power. They spread violence and crime. We legalized alcohol, and they couldn't sell it. They lost power, and crime went down.
7. People would have an alternative to alcohol. Marijuana is much safer than alcohol. There is no recorded death from marijuana. Many people die from alcohol. Alcohol is addictive, but marijuana is not. Alcohol is much more likely to cause a car accident than marijuana. So it would be much better if alcoholics could switch to smoking marijuana. But some people don't use it because it is illegal. So they drink instead. But if it was legal, they could use marijuana and be much safer.

smellyfoot â„¢

Drug dealers would become tax paying small business owners.

"Criminals" would be released back into society where they can contribute (by working and taking care of their family) instead of being parasites.

Tax revenue from pot sales would could help to pay for all these social programs and bailouts.

Valuable time and money would be spent fighting real crime.

Brenda L

A lot of federal and state law enforcement and support employees would be out of work.

justice

Crime rate would go way down and there would be fewer drug pushers in our schools

Vatchy

First of all, that wouldn't put any drug enforcement personnel out of work - they're all focused on first, cocaine and second, heroin.

The price would come down and marijuana cigarettes would appear in convenience stores. The government would impose taxes on it and then waste all of the money that comes in from that on either earmarks or banks.

El Guapo

Legalization would:

- Create thousands of jobs
- Deal a huge blow to criminal networks, which would suddenly be without a HUGE source of income
- Provide an enormous windfall for the government, who would bring in billions in taxes (ending Prohibition played a big part in getting the U.S. out of the Great Depression)
- Allow police, courts and prisons to focus their resources on REAL criminals.

Union_Dooz

party time

Thomas M

Cheaper than a pack of cigarettes.I live in CA

David K

It would save the American people billions of dollars a year being able to tax it. At the same time, it just might filter out the fools doing it too!

Jason F

A benefit would definitely be the taxes the government can impose on it. I see that many of you answerers are making comments like "our brains would turn to tapioca" or "a lot of law enforcement would be out of work." You are severely out of touch with reality if you think that whomever feels like smoking pot at this moment can't get it in an instant. Also, law enforcement would simply be able to refocus their efforts on stopping other crimes. If you think pot smokers or pot dealers are anywhere near the top of the list of society's problems, you are sorely mistaken. Pot smokers are generally non-violent. No one has ever overdosed on marijuana and no one has ever died as a result of smoking it.

When I think of legalizing it, I think about the problems of smoking in public (around children, etc.), how do employers handle employees coming to work high, will 18 years old be the cutoff, things like that. But the tax money it could generate, I believe, far outweighs overcoming the issues I listed above.

courtlyn

Nothing negative.

-Thousands of prisoners who are not a threat to society would be released. This would allow US taxpayers to save money because we wouldn't be paying to support their terms in prison.
-Law enforcement officials could spend a lot less time paying attention to lesser crimes and focus on the dangerous criminals and deadly substance such as Meth.
-Pot sales and taxes on them, could boost the US economy and take a dent out of the deficit that we are facing.
-Those in need of cannabis for medicinal purposes wouldn't need to struggle so much to get the substance that they are in need of.

I don't think that anything truly negative could come out of the legalization of marijuana. The US Government could place limits on possession amount, tax the substance, force dealers and growers to run their operations as legimate businesses; bringing in more taxes and revenue for the US.
All in all, it could be positive for the economy and the system.

this Mike guy

In contrast to what many people think, legalization would lead to less marijuana use (this has been observed when it was decriminalized in the Netherlands, and when it was legalized in Portugal). Marijuana has always been available, but it's illegal status makes it the most profitable drug to sell, so when it's illegal, there's actually more of it around, being sold and trafficked illegally. If it was legal, all marijuana production would be regulated, and taxed by the government. Regulations could mean things like you would only be able to purchase any if you were over 18, you could only have a certain amount at a time, you wouldn't be able to drive or be noticeably high in public, etc. The tax money could go towards the federal budget deficit, and drug education programs so children wouldn't get the wrong idea about it being legal. I could write you a book on the positives that would result of legalizing marijuana. The hemp industry would be formed almost immediately, opening up a whole new source for rope, fabric, clothing, and other such products. The vast majority of people who are against legalization, are ignorant of what the drug really is, often believing that it kills brain cells, and causes higher crime rates. This is unfortunately very common beliefs, as the DEA and federal government has been spreading lies and propaganda about marijuana since just before it became illegal in 1937.

(<-RKO Age Of Orton->) NOW

it would make the world a better place because people would be more mellowed and to high to do crime so the crime rate would go down.

plus i hear that oboma is trying to ligalize it in United States, Canada and Uk

:-)

Christopher K

People's brains would become tapioca and many of our people would become more worthless than they already are.

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