To think there is an untouched industry available with the potential to pump billions of dollars into the economy and change the US judicial system, saving both money and lives as well as benefiting public health in vast ways may sound farfetched. But the availability of said industry is road blocked by a legal gray area as well as stereotypes and inaccurate information that have created a strong bias. The recreational usage of marijuana is not as commonly argued for as is the medical side of legalization, but this often-overlooked side of the argument could have far greater effects on the US economy and public sphere than previously known.

Not only would tax revenues skyrocket, but the creation of an industry provided by the legalization of marijuana, could provide an influx of jobs and draw from black market sales. Reviewing the effects of recreational marijuana legalization in legal states such as Washington and Colorado indicates significant advantages of the substance in terms of our legal system, economy and public health.  

Within the United States legal system, overall marijuana use exists in a grey area. Laws are defined differently on a state versus national level. Federal law files marijuana under an illegal classification, but individual states have the ability to create different regulations regarding the use of this drug.  Most states continue to adhere to the federal law, making the number of arrests for cannabis violations more than 700,000 per year, according to the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. In an article by the Global Drug Policy and Practice, the impacts of legalization on the economy were analyzed by investigating the effects of legalization legislation in Washington and Colorado on the costs of cannabis related law infractions. It reviewed the potential estimated savings due “reduced spending on criminal justice costs of marijuana law enforcement” (Evans 2). The legalization of marijuana on a federal level could save law enforcement countless dollars not just in terms of law enforcement, but also with the potential to end mass incarceration.

Our daily lives as United States citizens are greatly influenced by the economy, and the potential growth in the economy that could be supplied by the legalization of marijuana and its creation of industries is undeniable. An article from the Washington Post by Christopher Ingraham details the effects the legal marijuana industry in Colorado has had on the economy. $2.4 billion dollars were generated in Colorado economic activity in 2015, as cited by Ingraham. But money isn’t the only thing talking in the state of Colorado. The marijuana industry is outweighing the alcohol industry by nearly three times, and Ingraham’s research points out that “by 2020, the firm expects marijuana taxes to outstrip cigarette taxes as a revenue generator.” 

The effect of marijuana use on alcohol consumption is a topic that should not be overlooked, according to Ruth Graham, her title/organization. Graham writes that if “legalization affects alcohol consumption by just 10 percent it will negate the negative effects of marijuana usage.”  She also shares that contrary to popular belief there is a possibility of marijuana decreasing the use of other hard drugs. This information is prevalent to public health because the habits people create today in their marijuana establish future use. 

The effects of alcohol consumption can be negated by low-risk marijuana usage regulated by industries and the government. Paul Armetano, deputy director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of marijuana Laws) says that “Over time, when marijuana is legal and becomes more normalized in a society, that cannabis will in fact act as a substitute more so than as a complement to alcohol.” This means that instead of marijuana being a supplement to drinking or even opioid use, it would take the place of it, resulting in lower usage of alcohol and opioids. Statistics from StatNews.com found in Loria’s article report that in states that have legalized marijuana have found "20 percent lower rate of opioid deaths in the laws’ first year, 24 percent in the third, and 33 percent in the sixth." These numbers are a dramatic positive effect, as the number of US citizens that die of opioid overdose hangs around 100 per day. If people are substituting a substance that kills thousands of people for one that, as reported on the DEA’s website has no reported death from marijuana overdose “that seems to have a strong positive effect” (Loria). A study led by Dr. Marcus A. Bachhuber, published in August 2014 in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that from 1999 to 2010, there was a nation wide increase of opioid deaths. By contrast, in the few states where marijuana was legal, opioid deaths decreased by 25% compared to illegal states. This dramatic decrease can be linked to users switching from opioids to cannabis, as marijuana can be used medically to combat pain and other problems. Additionally, prescription opioid abusers switching to marijuana decrease their risk of overdose or death, as well as the probability of addiction to other harmful drugs. 

The United States spends billions of dollars every year on the effects of alcohol abuse, including everything from medical emergencies to workplace drug testing and productivity. This being said, if the results of legalization are as NORML says they will be, than the US would save billions of dollars, as well as increase workplace productivity and overall public health.

In Kevin Loria’s article, titled “What Colorado and Other States Tell Us about How Marijuana’s Big Election Day Will Affect Health,” the beliefs people have about marijuana and its stereotypes, such as increased traffic fatalities and increased juvenile use are debated. Some believe legalization in states like Colorado has increased emergency room visits, but evidence shows the increased percentage of ER visits could be due to tourists “overdoing it” (Loria). DUI rates in Washington and Colorado have decreased since legalization, and statistics show that driving while under the influence of alcohol is a way higher risk than driving while under the influence of cannabis. An issue that will need to be addressed in the near future, especially if other states follow in Washington and Colorado’s suit, is that there is currently no way to test to see if someone’s under the influence of marijuana (such as when they’re driving). Marijuana also stays in the human body for much longer than alcohol and other drugs, so even after users have stopped feeling ‘high’ they may test positive for weeks following consumption. 

Adam Orens, a founder of the Marijuana Policy Group, has an answer for those who believe the reason for the rapid growth in cannabis sales is directly related to growth in demand. “It would be easy to confuse the rapid growth in marijuana sales with an inherent growth in marijuana demand,” Orens and his co-authors write. “But that is not the case. Legal marijuana sales are increasing due to a supply shift – away from gray and black market suppliers, towards licensed suppliers.” 

Groups opposed to legalization often argue that even though the black market’s prevalence may decrease upon legalization, there will be increased sales from the black market in states that have not yet legalized marijuana, especially smuggling from legal states to illegal states. Another problem is the price difference between marijuana sold at dispensaries and marijuana sold by dealers on the black market. Dispensaries in Colorado may sell an eighth of an ounce for $50-$75, whereas a black market dealer would sell for around $25-40. This creates a situation where users are torn over whether they want to buy legally and pay more, or buy illegally and save money. Regulated and safe marijuana is a big benefit to the public sphere and the economy, as laced or unsafe marijuana is a monetary burden on medical facilities. Marijuana sold by the black market or individual dealers has a higher risk of being laced or synthetic because it is generally not tested, so buying from dispensaries will not only put money back into the economy, it will increase public safety. Another suspected benefit of legalization that will have an impact on dealers and and safety is a decrease in violence between gangs, dealers and suppliers. Upon legalization, instead of having to resort to thievery and violence when deals go wrong, individuals could contact the police department and have injustices resolved legally. Additionally, it is suspected that boarder crimes between Mexico and the US would decrease upon legalization due to the fact that smuggling marijuana would no longer be necessary to acquire the substance in the United States. 

The black market can be paralleled to the prohibition period in that before alcohol was legalized there was a huge market for money to be made in the underground sale of alcohol. This underground market was a hub of crime, bootleggers and illegal activities, not to mention the money taken out of the economy due to no tax revenue from alcohol sales. Once alcohol was legalized again there was no market for bootleggers to make money off of because they could not upsell a product that was legal and less expensive than bootlegged product even after tax. This is what policy makers hope will happen upon legalizing marijuana, eliminating or at least reducing black market activities.

Lauren Dixon, a writer for the economy-related website, Talent Economy, provides some insight on how legalization impact the public sphere. Dixon touches on the creativity of the marijuana industry regarding different products that can be created such as “cookies, candies, drinks, sprays and lotions” (Dixon). The amount of products that are possible to create from marijuana are endless, and taking a recreational substance that is stereotypically just used for smoking and turning it into so many other things just expands the possible money making opportunities. Her research points out how the normalization of marijuana use will impact employers’ need for drug testing, convictions of marijuana related crimes and improvements in the workplace such as increased productivity and decreased alcoholism. 

Policy makers nation wide turn to states such as Washington and Colorado, who have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, to monitor the effects of legalization especially on adolescents usage. Mason Tvert, who is part of the Marijuana Policy Project said, "These statistics clearly debunk the theory that making marijuana legal for adults will result in more teen use. Levels of teen use in Colorado have not increased since it ended marijuana prohibition, and they are lower than the national average. Elected officials and voters in states that are considering similar proposals should be wary of claims that it will hurt teens." When looking at the effects of alcohol on adolescents it is important to remember that underage drinking is illegal, just like the underage consumption of marijuana in legalized states. Just like the drinking age does not stop underage drinking, the illegality of marijuana does not stop users. Adolescents that want to use marijuana will typically still be able to get their hands on it, weather it is legal or not. 

The prevalence of marijuana use is ‘high’ in society today (sorry I really couldn’t help myself haha), despite the illegality of the drug. The drinking age had been regulated for decades, and yet underage drinking is still very prevalent in the United States regardless of the consequences. Minors have had mottos from alcohol abuse programs drilled in their head from a young age, as alcohol education is part of many public schools’ education programs, and it is common knowledge that alcohol consumption before the brain is fully grown can have detrimental effects on health. An individual named ‘shawnkearneyon’ commented on a Washington Post article detailing the effects of marijuana consumption saying, “So if we're going to "think of the children" and go back to the bad old days of prohibition. maybe we should deregulate alcohol as well, and let mason jars of moonshine flood our high schools the way pot did in Colorado prior to legalization.” This comment may be extremely dramatized, but the base idea that adolescents will be able to acquire marijuana if they desire to remains. Many policy makers suspected that legalization would cause teen use to dramatically increase, but in Colorado the numbers have stayed the same. 

Reviewing the effects of recreational marijuana legalization in legal states such as Washington and Colorado indicates significant advantages of the substance in terms of our legal system, economy and public health.  The potential for savings in terms of law enforcement, combined with the expected tax revenue that would be generated upon a nation wide legalization of marijuana would contribute a huge amount of money to the economy that the United States would benefit greatly from. In terms of the black market, legalization has the potential to reduce crime between gangs and dealers, as well as transfer money from the black market into our economy. Lastly, the impact that marijuana usage could have on alcohol and opioid use is undeniable and supported by many statistics. I believe that this is the biggest impact that the legalization of marijuana could have on our lives as Americans. If the amount of lives lost and destroyed by alcohol and opioid usage could be greatly decreased by the legalization of marijuana, our lives as US citizens would benefit immensely. 
