 You walk into the local gas station, browse the store for a few minutes until you find a snack that tickles your fancy. Satisfied with the decision, you head to the checkout counter and what’s the first thing in your line of sight? Nope it’s not the cashier’s new haircut, it’s a wide array of cigarettes and tobacco products. A selection which typically far exceeds that of the chip aisle. Seems odd when studies have confirmed that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for approximately 443,000 deaths, or 1 of every 5 deaths, in the United States each year (Berg). While the statistic is saddening, the economic benefits speak for themselves. For this reason, I fail to understand why marijuana has such a terrible stigma attached to its name. “The devil’s lettuce” has widely accepted social, economic, and health benefits which far outweigh that of its counterpart. Benefits which have been discredited and silenced by big tobacco money to keep marijuana illegal. So why then has the legality of marijuana been in question while cigarettes have seemingly flown under the radar?

 First and foremost, marijuana should be legal because of the various medical purposes that it can serve. The medicinal potential which the drug offers is extremely promising, opening the door to better and higher standards of overall health.  Today more and more people are deciding to side with pro marijuana legalization for America. This is due largely in part to recent medical advances which have provided data confirming positive effects linked with cannabis across the world of medicine.  We have found that it can prevent HIV from spreading throughout the body, slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, slow the spread of cancer cells, combat depression, anxiety, and treat epilepsy. The functionality and versatility of the plant may surprise people of the past 100 years more than those who lived thousands of years ago. Historically speaking, notable civilizations and leaders have promoted the medicinal use of the substance. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians saw cannabis as an essential in the treatment of ailments and sickness. George Washington, Queen Victoria, and even modern medicine recognized the useful nature of marijuana. From the 1850s to 1942, cannabis was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia. Only problem being prohibition, which was supported with a growing trust in the federal government.  “” By 1937, the United States passed its first federal law against cannabis despite objections by the American Medical Association (AMA)” (Landsman). In fact, Dr. William C. Woodward, testifying on behalf of the AMA, told Congress: "The American Medical Association knows of no evidence that marijuana is a dangerous drug" (Landsman). He then warned that a prohibition "loses sight of the fact that future investigation may show that there are substantial medical uses for Cannabis."” So why prohibit its use? Well back in early 20th century there was an influx of immigrants coming into the country from Mexico. They brought with them a different language along with a completely different set of customs. Marijuana was considered a societal norm back home, commonly used for medicine and relaxation amongst many immigrants. People aren’t typically fond of the unfamiliar, the persecution of Mexicans can be associated to the demonization of cannabis. The media played off the fears of the public and spread propaganda tarnishing the name of a substance that was an ingredient in most medications at the time. Accusations arose that it made men of color violent and force sex on white women. Now that 23 states have passed medical marijuana laws, people are weighing the value of keeping marijuana illegal, when we see evidence that race and ignorance played a major role in the banning of the drug in the first place. Twisted motives and hidden agendas contributed largely to the way Americans have perceived marijuana. 

 It is estimated that smoking cigarettes is a contributing factor in 85% of all lung cancer deaths and responsible for over 80% of all chronic pulmonary diseases (Berg). Although these statistics are well known it doesn’t deter millions of Americans from lighting up a cigarette on a daily basis. To think that something so hazardous to your health and the health of those around you is legal, but marijuana is not is illogical. Marijuana smoke may or may not cause lung cancer because with it being illegal, it is hard to get a study on it. Also those that smoke marijuana also tend to smoke cigarettes making a study hard, according to the American Cancer Society. However, there are other ways to ingest marijuana that will absolutely not cause lung cancer. These ways include edibles and droplets on your tongue. The droplets on the tongue are popular with a strain of marijuana called Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s Web is a well-known strain of marijuana because of its ability to help with Dravet Syndrome (Young). This is a rare form of epilepsy that makes the seizures uncontrollable by medication, except for Charlotte’s Web. This strain is used with children with the rare disease, and it is dropped on their tongue. It helps to keep the seizures at bay and helping the children to not have to worry about the next seizure. Unfortunately, with marijuana being illegal in most states, this treatment is only available in a few states. This causes families to have to either break the law to help their child or get up and move their whole life so their child can get treatment. It is unbelievable to think that something with such medical potential is illegal, but you can pick up a pack a cigarettes, that have no health benefits at all, anywhere is ridiculous. It’s difficult to believe the amount of people willing to risk the one life they got just to catch a little buzz.  Just goes to show the control that cigarettes have over a sizable portion of the population. It’s no surprise when we know the properties contained within cigarettes are powerful and addicting, leaving the door wide open for addiction, which many wrestle their entire lives. Not only are smokers knowingly hurting themselves, but they also endanger non-smokers with second-hand smoke. Over 50 thousand people die from smoke exposure each year, with a good portion being children who have parents who smoke. When the consequences of the vice begin to negatively affect those around you, it is a problem. Especially considering that those around are typically people we are close with and care for deeply.  The power that a cigarette holds can easily be underestimated.

The legalization of marijuana would have a huge impact for the medical community, but it would have just as big, if not a bigger impact on the economy. Cigarettes have a federal tax of $1.01 per pack, and then there is an added state tax on top of that. The state tax differs from state to state with states that grow tobacco typically having a lower tobacco tax than states that do not grow the crop (Boonn). Between 1998 and 2010, the government has collected almost $244 billion from cigarette taxes. That is a lot of extra money for the government just from the sale of tobacco. Now if you take that tax model from tobacco, and apply it to the sale of marijuana, then the government would have a lot of extra money to spend on bettering the country. Some may argue that the stigma around the drug will keep it from selling and the legalization would be worth it economically, but the first state to legalize the drug, Colorado, tells a different story. Colorado voted to legalize marijuana recreationally in 2012, but the law did not officially go into effect until 2014. In 2015, the second year after marijuana was legalized, the state reported $996 million in revenue from marijuana sales (Boonn). That was a 42% increase over 2014. The next year, the state reported $1.1 billion in marijuana sales, and that was only through October. The estimate for the year at the time was $1.3 billion in revenue. That would be a 30% increase from 2015.  A research firm, ArcView Group, recently estimated that the total annual sales of marijuana could reach $22 billion by 2020. Now if you compare that to what the US government made off of cigarette tax in 2015 you see that the market is there for marijuana. In 2015, the US government made $13.4 billion with the states making a combined $16.2 billion more in taxes. In 2015, the average amount that states collected in taxes was $324 million. Through October in 2016, Colorado had made over $150 million in taxes. So the market for the drug is there, and not only is it there, it is growing by huge amounts every year. After establishing the market for the drug is going to be just as large if not larger than that of tobacco, we now must take a look at what impact that will have on the economy from a national and state standpoint. Looking at Colorado as an example, with this past year’s $150 million collected in marijuana sales tax, Colorado is bettering its education system and infrastructure. Of the $150 million, $50 million will go straight to a fund for school construction projects(Huddleston). This includes everything from renovating existing schools and helping to build new schools. The rest of the $100 million will be spread across construction projects for roads, the education system, and the art program for the state. With the extra money Colorado made they were able to fix their roads from city streets to interstates. This makes the roads safer to travel on with less potholes and bumps to blow your tire on, and it also helps out the taxpayers because it keeps their cars in better shape. This means fewer trips to the mechanic for alignments and new tires, and more money in the taxpayer’s pocket to do things they want to do. Some of the funding also went to the education system outside of the construction project. This means schools were able to buy things like updated textbooks, new lab equipment, and new desks for classrooms. Lastly some funds were allocated for the art program in Colorado, which is huge because funding for the arts is hard to find nowadays, and it is even being cut on a national level every year. From this example, you can see the benefits to marijuana legalization on a federal level. With the extra money marijuana sales tax would generate the government could start rebuilding the infrastructure of the country, helping the education system, and allocating funds to programs that are currently underfunded. On a long drive across the interstates of our country you start to see roads and bridges that need to be replaced. A study done in 2016 found that 58,495 out of 609,539 or about 10% of bridges in the United States are structurally deficient (Jansen). That is an astonishing percentage for such a developed country, and the reason the number is high is because it is up to the states to fix their roads and bridges and they do not have the money to do it.  With the legalization of marijuana, there would be enough money generated for states to start repairing bridges and fixing their pothole riddled roads. And speaking of underfunded programs, the truck weigh-stations in this country are one of the more underfunded jobs in the government today. Most truck weigh-stations in the country are in disrepair or closed because the government does not have the money to pay workers at the stations.  Weigh-stations are a needed commodity on the interstates because they regulate how much weight a semi-truck can be carrying. Keeping trucks underweight helps to keep the roads from wearing down too fast and having to get replaced quicker. Repaving roads as mentioned earlier, is already a problem in this country without having to do it more often. With the extra money generated on marijuana tax, the roads could not only get fixed, but they could stay that way while generating more jobs along the interstates. Lastly, we hear all the time about how the American school system is slipping in the worldview, and a lot of that has to do with it being underfunded. Again using Colorado as an example, the money generated by legalizing marijuana would be able to update our school system. Having more money to spend on these things would go a long way in bringing the American education up in the world rankings. 

So why is marijuana still illegal? Despite overwhelming evidence, legalization is a slow and tedious process. Although it may be slow, public opinion and perception of marijuana in this country has shifted dramatically in the past decade. More and more people have begun to realize the useful properties contained within the plant and the practical functionality which it brings to the table. Cigarettes on the other hand are a dying trend. With all the evidence out there about the harmful nature of the substance, people have begun to shy away and find other outlets to replace the nasty habit. If it wasn’t for the big tobacco companies, countless people would still have their brother, sister, father, or mother still sitting next to them at the dinner table. Unfortunately, morals take a back seat to profits and statistics replace faces, making it easy for companies to make decisions that don’t take into account the safety and health of human beings. Although the road has been tough, marijuana has gained traction and is finally breaking through the wall of ignorance which society has built surrounding the legality and safety of marijuana.
