A push towards the legalization of marijuana has been of high interest in today's society, the big claim being that legalization will bring tremendous financial gains for the United States as a whole. Yes, the take on financial gains may be accurate but do they outweigh the cost related to negative health effects that legalization of weed may pose the country? In legalizing marijuana, the United States government would not only save billions of dollars but in turn they would also gain from profiting billions upon billions from the legalization of cannabis. The criminalization of marijuana has yet to stop people from consuming it, legalization would at least allow the product to be taxed. There are many things that would come out of marijuana legalization that would benefit that country both from a financial stand point and in its general public health.  Some people would possibly be more likely to be deterred from consumption as they do it just out of rebellion due to its legality, and money will be saved from all the added cost not being used towards its prohibition and enforcement; as well as generated from those who will consume no matter what the situation may be.  In fact not only will marijuana prove to be financially beneficial, it also would better the public health situation and lower the overall cost associated. 

The criminalization of marijuana has yet to prove to be successful in any of its tactics; the government has tried to use arrest as a method to deter users but the rate of use as well as the size of the population using has shown no significant decrease.  According the Katherine Beckett, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, unsuccessful efforts to reduce marijuana consumption not only included arrest but imprisonment, incarceration, as well as seizure of private property. Beckett reports "Marijuana arrests in the U.S. have increased dramatically since 1992.", the finding report that there is no evidence that this increase has resulted in a decrease in marijuana consumption.  According the Beckett prices of marijuana have been reported to actually have decreased regardless of the increased arrest, availability has hit an all time high, and reports show that consumption has increased exponentially within the last ten years.  So if all these efforts through law enforcement are proven to be largely ineffective than why is the United States government throwing billions upon billions of dollars on a yearly basis on trying to suppress the drug?

The Huffington post reports on studies from a research project headed by Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University reporting findings that nearly 8.7 billion dollars are spent annually on law enforcement efforts to subside the presence of marijuana. Yes, in terms of a government budget those numbers are not large but in comparison to other government projects and for something that does little to no harm to the general public it is quite substantial. Miron's estimates were published in 2010, six years later today where efforts have been more so enforced and inflation is factored those numbers could be substantially higher. 

The biggest thing that can come from the legalization of marijuana in terms of a financial standpoint is the the taxes that will follows its sale and distribution in the United States. To get a good picture of what marijuana sales would look like, Colorado serves as a good model and prediction of what the country as a whole will see from its decriminalization.  The yearly sales are as followed, "Licensed and regulated marijuana stores in Colorado sold $996,184,788 worth of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015, according to new data from the state Department of Revenue" (Baca).  In addison to staggering sales reported from the state Department of Revenue, the claim on returns on tax generated by the state is quite impressive, "On top of Colorado also collected more than $135 million in marijuana taxes and fees in 2015" (Baca).  As seen through Colorado's state department of revenue reports for the 2015 fiscal year the sales and taxes charged is quite high.  As time progresses and the people get more comfortable with the product those numbers will only increase, the Cannibist reports that sales were 699 millions in 2014 and have progressively grown to near a billion dollars in sales the following year.  The sales for 2014 are still enormous being that is when it initially was introduced, and to see close to a forty five percent increase from sales of 2014 to 2015 is rather impressive.  As expected the taxes generated also increased proportionally, "Year-over-year totals for taxes and license fees grew too, from $76 million in 2014 to $135 million in 2015" (Baca).

There are three types of taxes that are charged on the sale of medical marijuana in the state of Colorado.  The Colorado Department of Revenue states that the general consumer is charged 2.9% as a standard sales tax, and than in addition there is an additional 10% special marijuana tax charged.  For any wholesale marijuana sales there is a 15% charge on tax, essentially for the retailers.  Looking at the reported sales from both 2014 and 2015, these taxes are not holding anyone back from purchasing marijuana.  In Colorado's case large amounts of the taxes being collected from cannabis sales is being used  to better the state's education system.  These are the initial reports from one state's experience, the possibilities are endless if legalization would sweep the country.  There is substantial amount of money to be made, people are buying marijuana regardless, why let is happen unregulated and underground when there is money to be made from it?

Billions of dollars are generated from alcohol and tobacco use,  if marijuana was to be legalized it would be similar to both of those products in the ways they are distributed and the way in which they are taxed.  Marijuana is more similar to these two products than it is commonly thought of to be,  they are both consumed by the user for similar reasons,  whether it is to relieve stress and pressure or simply for pure pressure.  The scenarios and environments in which they would be used are quite similar to that of alcohol and tobacco.  There is no real difference between them of any sort, the only reason it is looked down upon is because of the stigma it is given in today's society due to its legality.  Alcohol was once illegal and had a very similar stigma, but look how commonly it is consumed in today's society and the the rather positive stigma it holds after it was made legal.  If marijuana was to become illegal, it would be treated similar to both tobacco and alcohol, and its image will progress positively as time inherently progresses.  

Legalization of marijuana in the United States would generate whole new industries and opportunities if it were to see the decriminalization of this plant that can do so much for this country.  It is not just the marijuana itself but there are things that would spring off of its legalization, "legalization would create numerous revenue-generating spinoff industries, such as coffee houses, gardening equipment, and paraphernalia" (Gieringer).  In retrospect the Netherland proves to be a positive example of what could come thereof, "The city of Amsterdam, with a million people, boasts 300 coffee houses retailing cannabis. Scaled to the U.S population, this would amount to over 60,000 retailers and 100,000 jobs" (Gieringer). It is not only the state and taxpayers that are benefitting, but there will be more services provided to people as well as jobs that will need to be filled for those very services.  In turn all these things that would derive from legalization would also be taxable and bring in money from their respectable industries.  

If marijuana was to be legalized in America one of the countries former top crops can begin to be farmed again, hemp.  Hemp is a cash crop that will boom if it were to be reintroduced  here in the US and there is a very large economical potential that can follow, "agriculture of hemp, a versatile source of fiber, protein, biomass and oil" (Gieringer).  Today's leading crops consist of soybeans and cotton which generally bring in six to ten millions dollars a year, if hemp was to be produced it would definitely become a contender as a leading crop in the agricultural industry as it highly versatile being used in the application of hemp seed foods, hemp oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, pulp, paper, and fuel.

When looking at the legalization of marijuana in terms of the financial gains to be had it is a no brainer when considering the taxes that can be charged, the enforcement savings, and the spinoff industries to come about from it.  There are arguments though that the legalization of marijuana could result in harm to public health, and in turn result in greater public health cost.  That statement is wildly inaccurate,  not only do the gains from legalization substantially outweigh the public health cost but in fact they pose the potential to lower the general public health cost.

There is a rathe large stigma out there that the misinformed tend to go along with, the notion that marijuana is highly dangerous and detrimental for human health.  A recently published study by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Rutgers University found otherwise, "chronic marijuana use by teenage boys does not appear to be linked to later physical or mental health issues such as depression, psychotic symptoms, or asthma." (Betchtold)  The experiment and research was quite rigorous and was conducted over an extensive period of time, "Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Rutgers University tracked 408 males from adolescence into their mid-30s for the study." (Betchtold)  The researchers conducting the study went into the experiment expecting to report on mental and physical outcomes derived from marijuana use. After several test over two decades and looking through the data numerous times they were heavily surprised, "There were no differences in any of the mental or physical health outcomes that we measured regardless of the amount or frequency of marijuana used during adolescence." (Betchtold)  This is only one study of many that have conducted testing on the effects of marijuana from adolescence to adulthood, in essence legalization would not pose a risk to the current public health or pose any further health cost. 

Another research team from Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine conducted an experiment with a slightly different approach, "the team found that use of the drug did not correlate with health status or health-care utilization among adults who reported to have used the drug before." (Vence)  The findings have come back so positively time after time, researchers are looking further into cannabis as treatment for various chronic health issues.  Arguments are even being made that marijuana would be prove to be a good method to treat young children with various chronic illnesses.  To think that if marijuana has come about in the medical community and reached this far with approval to the point they are proposing it for children's use the drug can not be detrimental to one's health.

It has been established that yes, marijuana is essentially harmless to one's health and the whole hype towards it being detrimental to human health is not factual by any means. It is very plausible that legalization of marijuana can actually lower public health cost, in addition to having no negative effects.  It is very possible and highly speculated that if marijuana was to be decriminalized it can serve to be a substitute for more substantial intoxicants, "research suggests that marijuana may replace alcohol or hard drugs in many people's lives." (Graham)  Marijuana taking the place of other drugs could most definitely aid the public health and cost related to the more serious things it replaces, "Other recent studies suggest that looser restrictions on weed decrease traffic fatalities and even the suicide rate." (Graham)  It has been clinically proven that marijuana actually has taken place of harsher substances and served to help people's addictions, "many patrons of the Berkeley Patients' Group used the plant to decrease or stop their consumption of other substances." (Earleywine)  In essence marijuana proves to be more so positive for public health in the way that it serves as a substitute. 

Alcohol is a rather large component of America's pastime, "Excessive alcohol consumption cost the United States $223.5 billion in 2006, or about $1.90 per drink." (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)  Researchers have suggested that if marijuana was legalized it would be  very likely that people would move from alcohol consumption to marijuana consumption, "Harvard professor Lester Grinspoon mentioned this idea decades ago" (Earleywine).  The cost break down is as followed, "The costs largely resulted from losses in workplace productivity (72% of the total cost), health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11% of total), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses related to excessive alcohol consumption (9% of total), and motor vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6% of the total)" (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).  If marijuana was to be legalized than these cost would exponentially decrease; alcohol makes people more aggressive and prone to putting people in dangerous situations while marijuana essentially calms a person down.  It does not just stop there, alcohol can be used as a substitute for a number of things, "Over 75% of these folks said that they used cannabis in place of some other drug. Replacing prescription drugs was the most common practice (68%), but many used the plant instead of alcohol (41%) and illicit drugs (36%)." (Earleywine) 

If tobacco is allowed to be legalized than what is different about marijuana as they share many of the components. Marijuana and tobacco may share many of the same components but research has shown that marijuana in fact causes less damage to the body than tobacco causes, " A large-scale national study suggests low to moderate use of marijuana is less harmful to users' lungs than exposure to tobacco, even though the two substances contain many of the same components." (Kim)  When tobacco is smoked one's air flow rate quickly decreases but marijauana seems to be different, "Air flow rate increased rather than decreased with increased exposure to marijuana up to a certain level." (Kim) Tobacco is another one of those toxins that marijuana can potentially replace, and with it being it less harmful it would prove to be effective for overall health issues as well as bring in more tax money being the raw product cost more than tobacco.

In the overall scheme of things marijuana legalization would be greatly beneficial for America in terms of a financial stand point in addition to its public health.  Not only do the financial gains that would be made from legalization outweigh the public health cost, they actually lower them. People who are not properly educated do not know the real effects of marijuana, and the potential that is in store if it were to be legalized.  The public as of current, goes with the whole stigma that was believed in the past that marijuana is highly detrimental to psychological and physical health especially in adolescence.  Recently though research has conducted to dismantle those previous beliefs,  it actually would be beneficial for the over all public health of this country.  In essence the move to marijuana legalization would not negatively effect public health in the United States, just help fix it. 

