Legalization of Marijuana

In february of 2010, I was pulled over for having a tail light out. The officer came to the window and immediately asked if I had any marijuana in the vehicle. I quickly replied no and even argued with him swearing up and down that I for sure did not have any(i really did think i was not in possession nor violating any laws). He clearly did not believe me and ordered a search of my truck. 20 minutes later after standing outside in 10 degree weather with no coat, the officer conducting the search kindly let me back in my vehicle for another 20 minutes when he came back to my window. He said that he found a small amount of weed under my seat. He showed me what he found, and for those of you who know anything what so ever about it, the amount of weed in that old crumpled up bag was less than 1 gram of marijuana( about 1 bowl). He gave me a 250$ ticket for possession of an illegal substance. I explained to the officer that if i was aware of that in my vehicle, either a- i would have smoked it, or b- would have gladly handed it over the first time he asked. I went to court, pleaded some more that this is ridiculous that i even got in trouble for something like this; I was not "high", and I was not driving poorly. I tried explaining that i couldn't afford both the fine,(since im a college student on a tight budget) and another addition on my building criminal record. Anyways.. the judge told me it was illegal to sell it, and buy it, but I can have it in my house.

In 2008, there were almost 1 million arrests for marijuana related incidents, and 750,000 of those were for mere possession. Use of marijuana in this country is steadily increasing, in 2007, an estimated 190 million people have at least tried it, and 50 million are frequent smokers. Use of this "drug" for medicinal purposes are still illegal in 35 states. Medicinal drug use helps those with cancer, and aids patients to reduce pain, and increase appetite. The "war on drugs" is becoming more and more expensive for the government. According to Professor Jefferey Miron, in his article which is backed up by 500 economists, states that, the legalization of this drug save national and federal government 7.7 billion dollars on law enforcement, courthouse appearances, and prisons( which the taxpayers pay for). Not only are billions of dollars being saved, if it were created legal, it would generate a tax revenue of 2.2 billion dollars (Miron J.) From an economic standpoint, why is it still illegal? There has never been a reported death from the use of marijuana, unlike alcohol, which reportedly contributes to over 100,000 deaths per year, and the tobacco industry contributing almost a half million deaths per year, but are still perfectly legal. Like alcohol and tobacco products though, legalization of marijuana would in fact generate a tax revenue and the government would have better control of the purity and distribution. Currently, 25% of the prison population is located in the united states. Cells do not need to be filled with the average american who smokes weed on the weekends. And, courthouses do not need to be over crowded by recreational smokers who got "caught" with it.

The opportunity cost of keeping marijuana illegal is huge. It approaches 10 billion dollars, not to mention the lives of every student, parent, or even grandparent bettered by legalization of marijuana. Courthouse houses will not treat each session like an assembly line, prisons will be emptier, and law enforcement can focus on the real problems this country is facing; which is nottt, a losing battle to the american public.

Sources: Prof. Jefferey Miron,

and, http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53