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Ryan Pippins

PROFESSOR Stephanie Williams

CLASS Composition II

DATE April 14, 2017

Flower Power (you can change this lol, Time to Turn Over a New Leaf?)

In the United States there is an ongoing debate as to whether marijuana should be

legalized nationwide. Some say that marijuana is morally wrong, while others bring up the

effects of marijuana on the brain and body. Although there are many arguments as to why

marijuana should not be legalized, the bad is ultimately outweighed by the good. Legalization

would offer more of an advantage over prohibition or decriminalization because it could then be

taxed and distributed legally. Marijuana should be legalized because it would save the nation

large amounts of money, there are no lung related health risks, and it provides a better sense of

relief for chronic pain patients.

In the United States, $68 billion of taxpayers money is spent on prisons; of that $68

billion, $22,000 is spent on each prisoner. Even more outrageous is that convicts serving a life

sentence costs the taxpayers $1.5 million dollars each. In the United States, statistics show

872,000 arrests last year associated with marijuana, 775,000 of those arrests were for possession,

not sale or production.

Considering this information, marijuana legalization would save the nation

immense amounts of money. Contrary to the public perception that the

incarceration of violent offenders has driven Americas prison growth, the Institute

found that 77% of the growth in intake to Americas state and federal prisons

between 1978 and 1996 was accounted for by nonviolent offenders. According to

data collected by the United States Justice Department, from 1978 to 1996, the
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number of violent offenders entering our nations prisons doubled (from 43,733 to

98,672 inmates); the number of nonviolent offenders tripled (from 83,721 to

261,796 inmates) and the number of drug offenders increased seven-fold (from

14,241 to 114,071 inmates). Justice Department surveys show that 52.7% of state

prison inmates, 73.7% of jail inmates, and 87.6% of federal inmates were

imprisoned for offenses, which involved neither harm, nor the threat of harm, to a

victim.

The criminalization of marijuana has been a source of financial benefit for the legal system since

the 1930s when it was banned.

Another aspect of the effects of marijuana legalization is supply and demand. Prohibition

of marijuana creates a risk when it comes to production and consumption, mainly the cannabis is

not regulated so the actual content is unknown, but legalization removes that risk.

With legalization the demand is going to increase, and the money is going to be regulated

through American business instead of other countries. If marijuana is legalized the United States

can tax the drug, which will not only help gage consumption but it will also bring in a profit.

According to the economist, Jeffrey Miron: Like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana legalization

generates substantial tax revenues and create considerable public savings for the federal

government and state and local governments. Mirons point is that prohibition requires

enforcement costs. If marijuana were legalized, the government's cost would decline in the area

of law enforcement, including police protection, judicial and legal systems. He estimated that

legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government budget to that is used

to enforce prohibition (Grammy).

Another economic benefit of legalizing marijuana would be opening up opportunities for

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law enforcement to focus on problem areas other than drug enforcement. Sexual assaults,

domestic violence, and drunk driving, are all areas where law enforcement could be spending

more time. Some say that police are no longer strictly enforcing marijuana laws, supposedly

reflecting the will of a gradually enlightened society. It is actually quite the opposite; according

to CNBC in 2010, adult arrest rates for marijuana offenses rose substantially, with new records

being set several times in the recent past. Police arrested 847,864 persons for marijuana

violations, in 2009 almost 90 percent of them for possession only (Legalization Will Reduce

Crime, Free Up Police Resources).

A common misconception of marijuana use is that it has the same effects on the lungs as

tobacco. Since smoking cigarettes causes disease such as lung cancer and respiratory problems,

people automatically assume that marijuana use will do the same. According to the research

done by Mark J. Pletcher, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California at San Francisco:

In a group of 5,115 men and women in 4 U.S. cities, lifetime exposure to

marijuana joints was expressed in joint-years, with 1 joint-year of exposure

equivalent to smoking 365 joints or filled pipe bowls. Lung function was assessed

by the measurements of forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration

(FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), with lower measures corresponding to

poorer lung function (Pletcher).

With this research, Dr. Pletcher was able to measure the effects of marijuana on the human lungs

over a period of time. She discovered that the bad effects of tobacco use on the lungs far

exceeded the marijuana effects. Dr. Pletcher concluded that:

Marijuana may have beneficial effects on pain control, appetite, mood, and

management of other chronic symptoms. Our findings suggest that occasional use
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of marijuana for these or other purposes may not be associated with adverse

consequences on pulmonary function (Pletcher).

A widely accepted benefit that would come from legalizing marijuana is medical use for

chronic pain patients who are suffering from HIV and AIDS. After seven completed trials

between 2002 and 2012, with five studies published and two pending, California researchers say

the research shows pot does, in fact, have therapeutic value (Center for Medical Cannabis

Research). Dr. Igor Grant, a neuropsychiatrist who served as director of the Center for

Medicinal Cannabis Research, said every one of the studies showed a benefit. Researchers for

the program focused only on the medical benefits and made sure not to show support for

recreational use. From his research, Grant said, The research results suggest the U.S.

government's listing of marijuana as a Schedule I drug with no medical use on par with heroin

and LSD is completely at odds with the existing science. It is intellectually dishonest to say it

has no value whatsoever, because it's just not true (Center for Medical Cannabis Research)."

In California, doctors can recommend marijuana for medical purposes, and it can be

bought legally there. However, there are many different strengths of the drug and with many

different suppliers, it is hard for researchers to come up with a dosage for medicinal users.

In many cases, researchers took their cues from people already using marijuana.

Dr. Donald Abrams at UC San Francisco and Dr. Ronald Ellis at UC San Diego

knew AIDS and HIV patients with nerve damage were treating themselves with

cannabis to quell shooting pains from stimuli as benign as pulling a bed sheet over

their toes. In separate clinical trials between 2002 and 2006, Abrams and Ellis

found that patients infected with HIV got marked pain relief from pot even on

top of prescription pain medications. In May, a published study by Jody Corey-

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Bloom, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at UC San Diego, reported that 30

patients smoking marijuana got noticeable relief from painful spasticity (Center for

Medical Cannabis Research).

When questioned about the dosage dilemma, Wilsey said, "I want to be able to provide a suitable

dose that doesn't impair people or impairs them minimally." Through Wisleys research study, he

started testing medical marijuana on multiple sclerosis patients.

Sacramento County resident Gene Murphy, a multiple sclerosis patient, was driven

to a UC Davis research center in Rancho Cordova over a three-week period so

scientists could watch him inhale different potencies of cannabis from a vaporizer,

check his pain and see if he was getting high. Murphy found himself taking tokes

of government pot, grown for research at the University of Mississippi, and

complaining about the taste as the UC Davis team tried to find out if a minuscule

dose of marijuana could help with his shooting pains. Murphy also found his

discomfort seemed to decrease with cannabis use in a way it didn't with his

prescription of Vicodin alone (Center for Medical Cannabis Research).

Marijuana provides a safe, alternative to traditional methods of controlling pain through the

pharmaceutical industry. Marijuana is a natural way to control pain, opposed to pain medication

which is often criticized for its highly addictive and unhealthy side effects.

Colorado is a great example of what the future could hold for America if marijuana is

legalized. The state of Colorado pulled in nearly $200 million in tax revenue last year thanks

to its $1.3 billion in marijuana revenue (Williams). Prohibition costs the United States

countless dollars annually, it makes very little sense to continue to drain budgets instead of add

to them.
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The Colorado Department of Revenue announced that the states revenue had

pushed past $1 billion. Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, along

with Washington state, and this was its third year of regulated sales. In its first

year revenue hit $699.2 million, followed by $996.2 million the second year

(Williams).

Colorado took it a step further by making an effort to take strides for residents, it uses the

majority of its tax money on education. In an interview on NPR Michel Martin asked Ricardo

Baca, editor of The Cannabist, a project of The Denver Post, about the money utilization:

The state funds are primarily going toward education. When Colorado voters

voted on Amendment 64 in 2012, we were promised that the first $40 million of

this specific recreational excise tax was going to go toward capital school

construction. And so that's a big part of it, too. But then you see the different

municipalities that are able to disseminate the money however they choose. And

so we're seeing cities give it to homelessness or creating college scholarships with

pot taxes (Baca).

The education system has been an issue in America for some time now, and Colorados step in

the right direction benefits not only the legal system and cutting costs Nationally on crime, but it

also would help build more schools and offer more funds to the areas in urban cities that need it

the most.

Considering the research on the benefits of legalizing marijuana, the advantages of

legalization immensely outweighs the drawbacks. It would free up funds for the U.S. government
to spend on more important agendas; it is not a major respiratory health risk to the user; and it
would substantially benefit chronic pain patients. As more research is done and positive effects
are being reported as more and more states legalize marijuana, it is becoming hard to ignore.
Continuing to criminalize marijuana is causing the country much more harm than good. Due to
these findings, marijuana should be legalized nationwide because it would save immense
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amounts of money, the health benefits of medicinal marijuana are stronger than the risks, and it
provides a better sense of relief for chronic pain patients.
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Works Cited

Baca, Ricardo. "Where Does Colorado's Marijuana Money Go?" Interview by Michel

Martin. NPR. NPR, 01 Oct. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

Center for Medical Cannabis Research. Research Backs up Claims of Medical

Marijuana's Benefits. 12 July 2012. San Diego University of California. 18 March

2017.web.

Glauser, David. The Economic Effects of Legalizing Marijuana. 2012. MS. The

University of Utah. Content.lib.utah.ed. University of Utah Library, Mar. 2012. Web. 18

Apr. 2017.

Grammy, Abbas P., Dr. "Economic Benefits of Marijuana

Legalization."http://www.csub.edu Economic Research Center, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 18

Apr. 2017.

"Legalization Will Reduce Crime, Free Up Police Resources." CNBC. CNBC, 20 Apr.

2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

Pletcher, Mary J., M.D. "Marijuana Use Not Associated with Adverse Effects on Lung

Function." Marijuana Use Not Associated with Adverse Effects on Lung Function. N.p.,

10 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Williams, Trey. "Marijuana Tax Revenue Hit $200 Million in Colorado as Sales Pass $1

Billion." MarketWatch. N.p., 12 Feb. 2017. Web. 4 Apr. 2017.