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Arnold Jay HodgesUSNIn 1987, Supreme Court nominee Douglas Ginsburg lost the nomination becausehe admitted to trying Marijuana. In 1992, then Governor Bill Clinton famously said:“When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't likeit. I didn't inhale, and never tried it again.” Fast forward to 2006, while on ChrisMatthews’s show our current President Barrack Obama admitted that he had in factsmoked and “inhaled” marijuana frequently as a youngster. Although President Obamahas made it clear he does not support the legalization of marijuana he has said, he believes the government needs to rethink how they operate in the drug wars because theyare not doing a good job. This consecution above indicates that as the times are changingso are peoples perceptions or received notions about smoking marijuana.The legalization of marijuana is a controversial topic however I believe the prosoutweighs the cons. When considering legalizing marijuana, there are many economic,health, and social issues that need to be taken in account. Also to truly understand the pros and the cons it’s necessary to view the issue’s origin, how it came about or whatwere the reasons behind marijuana being prohibited initially?As I researched for information that would support my belief of why marijuanashould be legal I began with the question; why was marijuana prohibited? In my attemptto find the answer to this question I was lead to Harry Anslinger the first director theFederal Bureau of Narcotics and William Randolph Hearst, anAmericannewspaper magnateand leading newspaper publisher. Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man,and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity. Hearst toohad his own personal reasons for joining sides with Anslinger in the fight to prohibitmarijuana; one being that he invested heavily in the timber industry to support his

Arnold Jay HodgesUSNnewspaper chain and didn't want to see the development of hemp paper in competition.Although they were the ring leaders in the fight to illegalize marijuana they weren’t theonly interested parties. Hemp seed oil derivatives could replace DuPont's petroleumderived compounds, so of course the DuPonts, of DuPont plastic fame, joined the fight inillegalizing marijuana. In the 1930s, Hearst, who owned newspapers all over the country,started publishing sensationalist-type "news" stories about marijuana use. These stories,were written by Hearst or Anslinger himself and they talked about "insanity, criminality,and death" caused by smoking marijuana however none of these stories were based onfact. The intense propaganda and campaign led to anti-marijuana laws in many states.To my understanding due to the exaggerated stories about marijuana use of a fewinterested parties the prohibition of marijuana was applied to policy.With the current recession President Barrack Obama has stated the economy is themost important issue that he believes will define his legacy. I read an article aboutEconomist Stephen T. Easton’s attempt to calculate how much tax revenue the Canadiangovernment would gain by legalizing marijuana. Although his study was strictlyconfined to Canada I do believe it’s a perfect model of how the legalization of marijuanawould generate tax revenue overall. The study estimates that the average price of 0.5grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for $8.60 on the street, while its cost of production wasonly $1.70 producing a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana. Stephen T. Easton argues thatif marijuana was legalized, we could transfer these excess profits caused by the risk- premium from these grow operations to the government. Legalizing marijuana wouldgenerate revenue creating a new industry providing the economy with the stimulus wecould use in this recession.

Arnold Jay HodgesUSN“You can get killed walking down the street,” was the saying my stepfather (whowas a chain cigarette smoker) would say to anyone who would say the cliché statement,“you know smoking kills.” My reason of mentioning this is for the people who say youshouldn’t legalize marijuana because it can kill you; well there are a lot of legal things inthe world that can kill you. According to the United States government, NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics the annual American deathscaused by drugs while tobacco was at the top of the list with 400,000, marijuana was atthe bottom with zero. Like any substance, marijuana can be abused. The most common problem attributed to marijuana is frequent overuse, which can induce sluggish behavior but does not cause serious health problems.Driven by the Drug War, the U.S. prison population is six to ten times as high asmost Western European nations. According to some legalization of marijuana websites

in2000, more than 734,000 people were arrested in this country for marijuana-relatedoffenses alone. Knowing this fact, what we have are young people going to prison for simple possession and getting out more experienced criminals. To compare it to the prohibition of alcohol on society I believe would be relevant. The Prohibitionists hopedthe crime rate would decrease due to the decrease in consumption of alcohol, especiallyin large cities. Although at the beginning of Prohibition this purpose seemed to beaccomplished, the crime rate soon shot to nearly twice that of the pre-prohibition period.Minor crimes such as swearing, mischief, and vagrancy decreased but the more seriouscrimes like homicides, assault, and battery, increased nearly 13 percent. The Legalizationof marijuana would have a positive effect on society because it would decrease the crimerate.