For this project I will be researching to find sources and information that can help answer this very important question: how will the legalization of marijuana benefit the economy of the United States of America as well as its healthcare practices and advancements in medicine.  I am interested in researching this topic because I am an Economics major and I also take an interest in learning about science and medicine.  I am pro-legalization of marijuana because I feel that making marijuana legal would be a huge economic booster and I do not view marijuana as being a harmful substance, unlike alcohol or prescription drugs which can be abused and lead to death. In the past I have used marijuana recreationally and so have many of my friends, so this question I am trying to answer affects my way of life and my mentality.  However, I think that I am certainly qualified to research this topic and write about it for this project because of my experiences with this drug and also legalization of marijuana is an economic issue that our country is facing and I am an Economics major who will have to deal with this when I go into my future career field.  

In this scientific journal article, a study was conducted to determine if decline in IQ scores is caused by adolescent marijuana usage.  The study tested twin pairs with marijuana, then assessed their intelligence quotient (IQ) score changes while adjusting for genetic influences and factors shared by members of the same twin pair.  The results suggested that differences in genetics disprove the association between adolescent marijuana use and declination of IQ scores.  It was found that marijuana did not have a neurotoxic effect and did not have a direct effect on neurological decline and proved the phrase "correlation does not mean causation" right.  This article was written by scientific researchers who conducted the study and then the article was reviewed by a board of scientists before being published.  It is hard to tell whether the scientific researchers involved in the study are pro-marijuana use or anti-marijuana use.  The title of the article suggests the researchers want to link decline in IQ scores to marijuana use, but they might also be trying to disprove any association between lower IQ scores and marijuana.  If marijuana was legalized then healthcare practices would implement medicinal marijuana into treatment in all states and then hospitals would receive an increase in revenue, however despite this drug being used for hundreds of years some doctors and scientists are still cautious.


In this article the author discusses how the legalization of marijuana would boost the economy and attempt to help pull the United States out of the trillions of dollars of debt that it has accumulated.  He then goes on to talk about how economists estimate that 14 billion dollars could be raised a year if marijuana was legalized in all fifty states.  If this happens then it is projected within 5 to 10 years, the national debt would be eliminated.  Around twenty states already have a booming medical marijuana industry which provides more jobs and brings in excessive revenue.  In Colorado the first day marijuana usage was legalized, up to one million dollars in revenue was made.  It was estimated that one billion dollars in sales would be collected in the first fiscal year and excess taxes will also raise about $2.2-6.4 billion.  Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs $41.8 billion annually.  This money could be used to create college grants and scholarships for students however, when President Ronald Reagan started the war on drugs in the 1970's this grant money was allocated to enforce marijuana prohibition.  weGrow, a medical marijuana dispensary chain on the West Coast, creates an estimated 75 jobs per store.  Marijuana could be the United States' number one cash crop and the key to bringing us out of debt.  This article was written by Harry Bradford who was the Associate Editor for the Huffington Post Business Section and his writing was also featured in the New York Times.  Despite being very informative and fact based, this article is also very biased because the Huffington Post operates with a liberal agenda and are very pro-marijuana legalization.  The Huffington Post would approve this article because it shows the good parts of marijuana legalization and would trump the conservatives who are anti-marijuana legalization.  The author, Harry Bradford, is not a well-known scientist or writer/columnist, but numbers don't lie.  Anyone could write an article about marijuana and the impact of it on the economy if they had the right statistics and numbers.  The statistics showed that marijuana legalization in Colorado brought in a lot of revenue and that if the other states legalized marijuana then the debt could be erased in a few years.  There is no way to misconstrue that information.          

 


The article explains the history of marijuana in medicine starting with its first experimentation in the 1960's by Raphael Mechoulam, a heavily decorated scientist.  The article then goes on to explain that GW Pharmaceuticals in London, England have begun developing a drug which uses marijuana called Sativex to help people with multiple sclerosis.  Many people have moved to Colorado for medical use, not just to use marijuana recreationally.  Some families in Colorado are medical marijuana growers who develop a strain of marijuana, such as Charlotte's Web, to help with illnesses.  Charlotte's Web has been used to treat Dravet's Syndrome, a form of epilepsy.  The current medication for Dravet's Syndrome has horrible side effects which prompted many parents to move to Colorado for this new healing drug.  According to statistics, the amount of seizures in one child went from 200-300 a day to 2-3 a month after using Charlotte's Web.  Around 3 million people in the United States suffer from epilepsy according to the American Epilepsy Society.  The article was written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta who is CNN's lead medical correspondent as well as assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University and chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.  After first being anti-marijuana legalization he changed his position after doing research and investigating patients who were using or had used medical marijuana to help them deal with illness.  He then presented a documentary on CNN titled "Weed" where he explained his findings on medical marijuana and its side effects.  

The question of "how will the legalization of marijuana benefit the economy of the United States of America as well as its healthcare practices and advancements in medicine" is arguable because it is not a yes or no question and there are people who are for marijuana legalization and people who are against legalization.  The sources all had different outlooks on legalization but, I feel that they were similar in the fact that they all though legalization had many positive aspects and very few negative aspects.  I don't think I need to revise my research question however I am open to any suggestions.  Also it is hard for the writer to step back from what he has written, disassociate themselves from it, and look at the writing as the reader would.      
