Why I Support Legalizing Marijuana

Who knows why now there are well funded attempts at making marijuana legal. Perhaps it is due to the sinking economy and the search for new revenue streams. Or the maturing of an open minded generation x that, unlike their parents, do not conflate hard-drugs with pot. Perhaps it is another manifestation of the information age; Scientific studies which debunk many of the myths surrounding marijuana use are now readily available. Who knows? The bottom line is that our country is moving towards legalization. California’s proposition 19, on the November ballot, seeks to control and tax it. It is legal to grow and possess marijuana in Alaska (state supreme court 1975). 14 states have legalized medicinal marijuana, and others like New Jersey are pushing ahead with an attempt to control and tax marijuana. Also let us not forget that Marijuana is the biggest cash crop in America.

That said, many are opposed to marijuana legalization for the following reasons. It is a moral vice. It causes a drop in productivity and motivation, which could reduce national productivity. It is a gateway drug. Finally, legalizing marijuana is a slippery slope, what’s next... These arguments are ubiquitous, but are they valid?

Well I agree if x is abused then x becomes a vice, but any x (substance) that is abused is a vice. Yes I have SEEN people become less productive and motivated when abusing marijuana. At the same time alcohol, cigarettes, and obesity can and do, negatively affect individual and national productivity… Study after study have debunked the myth that marijuana is a gateway drug. In most cases a person who abuses marijuana and then other drugs, is doing so for personal reasons that precede marijuana use. As far as the slippery slope argument: I completely agree. America is a society that changes incrementally. In other words, civil rights were the long term consequence of the Civil war. Gay civil marriage is the precursor to full marriage, just as legalizing sodomy was a precursor to gay civil marriage. So one could argue that in 50 years from now we will attempt to legalize cocaine. Then again illegal drugs are already there for the taking. It’s just that they are more expensive. I.e. the slippery slope analogy only has legal implications, in reality the slipping on the slope of drugs is already here.

On the other hand here are 4 reasons why I support full legalization of marijuana.

1. We need the tax revenue. True, if we legalize marijuana use prices will drop and so will tax revenue, but it will still create a significant amount of revenue. It would also create jobs, in agriculture, distribution, and even manufacturing (marijuana paraphernalia, hemp exports etc).
2. We would eliminate a major stream of revenue for drug dealers and the violence that comes along with it. This would also reduce incarceration rates and the hefty chunk of tax dollars that go to incarcerate marijuana related criminals.
3. It would desensitize much of the illicit activity on the Mexican-American border and it would reduce drug related crime in Mexico which exports marijuana here.
4. Liberals support it because they love it and small government-conservatives support legalization because it shrinks government. It is a unifying factor.