Legalize it to save America

Legalizing marijuana could save the country. Or at least help ease the economic crisis.

In today's tumultuous economy, people are searching everywhere for an answer on how to bring America out of its financial funk. Cannabis may be just the answer everyone is looking for. The legalization of marijuana has the potential to create an enormous amount of revenue for a government in desperate need of it. History itself can be a guide when it comes to the legalizing of a banned substance in order to help the economy.

The consumption, sale and transport of alcohol was made illegal by the Volstead Act and the 18th amendment in 1920. During the Progressive Era, many people believed that America would be healthier and its work force would be more productive if alcohol was illegal and therefore not consumed. However, instead of embracing the law, many people chose to ignore and break it. Speakeasies, or bars that illegally served alcohol, popped up in most major cities, and organized crime flourished as alcohol became the hottest commodity on the black market.

Then, as the Great Depression took its stranglehold on the country in the early 1930s, lawmakers realized that a change needed to be made. Enforcing prohibition was extremely expensive and, without the taxes on alcohol, the government was losing up to 500 million dollars a year in revenue. So, in 1933, FDR signed into law the Cullen- Harrison Act which, along with the 21st Amendment, effectively repealed the prohibition. Obviously, the repeal was not a main factor in ending the depression, but it certainly helped the government create more revenue and ease the stress. Marijuana has the same potential for helping the economy and is less harmful than alcohol.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 makes it illegal under federal law to possess, use, buy, sell or cultivate marijuana. The act classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 Drug, which means that it has high tendency for abuse and no classified medical use. This argument itself is inherently wrong. Many medical journals have cited medical cannabis as a treatment for nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite in chemotherapy patients.

Also, other treatments were "relatively confirmed" for pain relief in nuerogenic pain and glaucoma. So, the argument against medical use holds very little water at this point. Yet, alcohol is legal even though it has not been used for medical purposes since the early 1900s and has a high tendency for abuse.

The one health-associated problem with using marijuana is the act of smoke inhalation. However, this can be reduced or even eliminated by different mechanisms and other forms of consumption, such as pills and food. Other than this issue, marijuana has no proven, conclusive negative effects associated with long-term use. Alcohol can lead to many health problems, including heart and liver disease, but alcohol is still legal.

Not only is marijuana less harmful than alcohol, which is argument enough for legalization, but it also has the benefit of helping the fledgling American economy.

There are 15,000 felony marijuana arrests each year, which can cost a state up to 100 million dollars. A single state also destroys an estimated 300 million dollars worth of marijuana each year which could be used to generate revenue and taxes. And in California alone, smokers consume an estimated 3 to 6 billion dollars of marijuana a year, which is 250 to 500 million dollars in taxes alone. In a study released in 2005, Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard University, calculated that the government would save 7.7 billion in the war on drugs if it legalized cannabis. If it taxed marijuana at a comparable rate to alcohol and cigarettes, the government would also make an additional 6.2 billion, according to Lyons' study. That's a conservative 14 billion. Not to mention the 10.5 billion dollar market that would help local businesses and therefore local economies.

The bottom line is that marijuana is a cash crop. It can either cost the government money and manpower, or it can be used to help sick people and make the government some money, while improving the economy. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it.