Essay about Cannabis: United States and Marijuana

Submitted By acpadilla9
Words: 1631
Pages: 7

Cannabis Conundrum

It has been eighty years since the twenty-first amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. The twenty-first amendment repealed the eighteenth amendment, once again making alcohol legal to produce and consume in the United States of America, this marked the only time in United States history that an amendment had been ratified (Rosenberg). Even though more than three-quarters of a century has past, the United States is currently faced with a new dilemma. With the legalization of Cannabis in Washington and Colorado, the rest of the country is now faced with a choice whether to proceed in the footsteps of history or try and keep marijuana growth and consumption illegal. As was the case of alcohol starting in 1919, as is the case with marijuana in 2013. We are now coming into a time much like then, with a severe marijuana usage rate amongst Americans, it is now time to make a drug that has long been illegal, legal again. To combat all of the naysayers toward this recreational drug a different approach must be taken, for there are many benefits to legalizing the drug known by many names such as: Weed, Marijuana, Cannabis, Pot, Chronic, or Dope. The major benefits of legalizing Marijuana are as follows: Marijuana will stimulate and promote the economy, it will have many useful health benefits, and lastly will free up law enforcement dollars and man-hours. As a nation battling out of a recession, something is needed to rebound the economy and catapult job growth any kind of stimuli could help. The Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that there has been a seven to ten percent unemployment rate in the United States during the recession. This rate may not be as bad as the Great Depression, however it’s the largest unemployment rate since World War II. To climb out of the great depression, many institutions, like TVA, were created and many laws were passed, like the legalization of alcohol, to allow this nation to get back on its own two feet. Desperate times, call for desperate measures, Franklin Roosevelt had the burden of creating economic stimuli to better the nation during the thirties, which started with the legalization of alcohol (Rosenberg). What better way to create jobs, increase revenue, or improve the economic standpoint. Since the legalization in Washington and Colorado, the new measure is expected to bring the two states more than five hundred and fifty million dollars combined, with more that 300 economists previously estimating that legalizing pot could save the United States up to fourteen billion dollars a year just in direct marijuana growth and consumption (Bradford, 2012). Not only will taxation drive the economy to try and recover from a monstrous debt that has been accumulating for many years, jobs will start opening up everywhere, albeit from the growers, the transporters, the marketers, advertisers, or sales associates jobs will become more available. AZBusiness Magazine states that when hydroponic marijuana growing supply chain weGrow opens a new store it creates and estimated 75 jobs indirectly (Bradford, 2012). Just out of the four stores that have opened more than 300 jobs have opened up, if legalized the number of jobs would grow exponentially. Money should not be the only reason we should legalize marijuana, however it’s hard to turn down the sheer lopsided numbers that we are faced with. To refer back to prohibition days it was illegal to purchase alcohol unless prescribed by a licensed doctor; there is a very similar process in many states currently in the United States (Rosenberg). Medical marijuana is legal in states such as California and Oregon, so with a prescription one can readily purchase Cannabis at a local “grow shop”. Dave Smith, The International Business Times, points out in an interview with Dr. Lester Grisnspoon, that prescription drugs kill about one hundred thousand people in the world each year. “There are no deaths from cannabis use.