Should Marijuana Be Legalized
Team Debate Paper
Rhonda Baskin, Carmil Gregory, Peter Hill and David Sutherland
BCOM/275
February 24, 2013
Instructor: Jennifer Buchholz
Should marijuana be legalized for personal use? This is a question that many have been asking as well as debating over for many years. Marijuana has been used for many medicinal purposes throughout medical history. However, many consider marijuana to be gateway drug that could lead to harder drug use. Many argue that marijuana use poses less of a threat than the use of alcohol or cigarettes and could be a great stimulus for a failing economy. It seems as though the debate of the legalization of marijuana has become not only a social debate but political debate as well. Although, states such as Washington and Colorado have blazed the trail and have legalized marijuana, there is still State vs. Federal law stipulations that interfere. In contrary there are pros and cons that fuel any debate in life. Regardless of state laws to the contrary, there is no such thing as “medical” marijuana under Federal law. Marijuana continues to be a Schedule I substance meaning that it has no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse (Policy). The Federal laws that are in place will continue to leave room for debate over the legalization of marijuana until both state and federal laws coincide.
One of the potential advantages to legalizing marijuana on a federal level would be the increased tax revenue it would create. At first glance this would seem to be a great benefit that should create a large amount of tax revenue along with cutting out substantial expenses to the war on drugs, but a 2010 study showed that legalizing marijuana would bring 9 billion dollars of tax revenue and would only be raising the overall tax revenue by 0.5%. Marijuana would be taxed similar to the way cigarettes are currently taxed, but prices on marijuana are expected to fall drastically in comparison to the prices they are currently at
Rhonda Baskin, Carmil Gregory, Peter Hill and David Sutherland
BCOM/275
February 24, 2013
Instructor: Jennifer Buchholz
Should marijuana be legalized for personal use? This is a question that many have been asking as well as debating over for many years. Marijuana has been used for many medicinal purposes throughout medical history. However, many consider marijuana to be gateway drug that could lead to harder drug use. Many argue that marijuana use poses less of a threat than the use of alcohol or cigarettes and could be a great stimulus for a failing economy. It seems as though the debate of the legalization of marijuana has become not only a social debate but political debate as well. Although, states such as Washington and Colorado have blazed the trail and have legalized marijuana, there is still State vs. Federal law stipulations that interfere. In contrary there are pros and cons that fuel any debate in life. Regardless of state laws to the contrary, there is no such thing as “medical” marijuana under Federal law. Marijuana continues to be a Schedule I substance meaning that it has no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse (Policy). The Federal laws that are in place will continue to leave room for debate over the legalization of marijuana until both state and federal laws coincide.
One of the potential advantages to legalizing marijuana on a federal level would be the increased tax revenue it would create. At first glance this would seem to be a great benefit that should create a large amount of tax revenue along with cutting out substantial expenses to the war on drugs, but a 2010 study showed that legalizing marijuana would bring 9 billion dollars of tax revenue and would only be raising the overall tax revenue by 0.5%. Marijuana would be taxed similar to the way cigarettes are currently taxed, but prices on marijuana are expected to fall drastically in comparison to the prices they are currently at
Bibliography: http://www.ibtimes.com/pros-cons-drug-legalization-us-246712 Rabin, Roni, Caryn, January 7, 2013, Legalizing of Marijuana Raises Health Concerns http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/legalizing-of-marijuana-raises-health-concerns/ Gleckman, Howard, December 6, 2012, Dude, Would Legalizing and Taxing Weed Solve Our Budget Woes? Mumola , C, Karberg, J. (2007, Jan) "Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004," Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 213530, p. 4. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/dudsfp04.pdf Harrison, P, Beck, A. (2005, Oct) "Prisoners in 2004," Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 210677, Table 1, page 2. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p04.pdf (n.d.).Retrieved February 24, 2013, from Legaliaztionofmarijuana.com: http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-marijuana-2-html cannabismd.net.(n.d.).Retrieved February 24, 2013, from http://cannabismd.net/dosing Meadors, A. (2013, February 22, 2013). How I began using hard drugs. (R. Baskin, Interviewer)