The Pros and Cons of Marijuana Legalization, Part 1
Posted by Serena on May 28, 2009
The following article represents the views of the author and is not representative of Queercents, the site owner or its other writers.
This week I??ve been examining the possible economic implications of marijuana legalization. Monday I talked about the tax benefits, and Tuesday I talked about the potential for job creation if marijuana is legalized. Today and tomorrow, I will be addressing some of the pros and cons of marijuana legalization.
The strongest argument in favor of marijuana legalization is economic. Marijuana is a $113 billion a year industry. Legalizing marijuana could generate $12 billion in taxes each year. However, the cost of marijuana-related arrests is grossly out of proportion to the impact of the ??crime? of consumption. According to a study published by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in 2005, approximately 900,000 people are arrested on marijuana charges every year, and 90% of those arrests are for possession only. In California and New York alone, marijuana arrests cost the state government $1 billion annually. This makes no sense. In this time of economic recession, it makes more sense to be generating revenue, rather than expending money on marijuana-related arrests.
However, there is an economic downside to marijuana legalization. If pot is legalized and regulated the way that tobacco and alcohol are, the price of marijuana is likely to decrease. For example, cannabis consumers pay an average of $35 - $50 for an eighth of an ounce of weed in California. Prices are higher in the dispensaries than they are on the street, but the quality of herb that you can get in the pot shops is a lot better than what??s available on the black market. Although it sounds contradictory given the status quo, street dealers are likely to be put out of business if pot is legalized, because dispensaries will be able to purchase in bulk and offer marijuana at a much lower price than your local pot dealer can. Think of this as a Wal-mart effect. I know it??s hard to drum up sympathy for your friendly neighborhood pot dealer. They??ll probably have to pick up extra shifts at the Blockbuster and cut back on their cable bill. But this is certainly a reality. Yet when you weigh that against the greater economic benefit that marijuana legalization would provide for the state, I think the answer to that equation is pretty obvious.
Moroever, it??s in the government??s best interest to put street dealers out of business. Marijuana has been legal in the Netherlands for decades. If I want to open a coffee shop in Amsterdam, I have to apply for a business license. It??s impossible to get a marijuana license and a liquor license. The Dutch government (rightly) does not want bar owners to be able to sell hash and pot because marijuana intensifies the effects of alcohol. The cost of getting a marijuana sales license is pretty pricey. But once a coffee shop owner gets their ducks in a row, they provide a major source of tax revenue for the Dutch government. The tax is built into the price of the marijuana. Coffee shops are limited to a specific geographic area of the city, so the government can easily monitor the sale and consumption of marijuana. They don??t need an entire drug task force to do the job. And the majority of cannabis consumers are tourists who bring their Euros to Amsterdam and then leave. I think the Dutch government is onto something here.
But Serena, wouldn??t marijuana legalization mean that elementary school children will be sparking up a doobie on the playground? Won??t ER??s across the country be overrun with potheads who have OD??ed on reefer? Hardly. Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, explains why:
Since my birth in 1965, the first year public health professionals started aggressively warning the public about the serious health concerns associated with long-term tobacco use, there??s been a 50 percent reduction in tobacco use. How did the government and society achieve the laudable public health goal of a substantial reduction in the consumption of tobacco?
Did we threaten workers?? employment based on invasive urine tests? Did we pass mandatory minimum sentencing? Did we deny students college loans? Did we destabilize our crucial international borders with Canada and Mexico? Did we bend the Constitution into a pretzel?
The answer is no. We achieved the important public health goal of reducing tobacco consumption in America by employing verifiable and credible health-related information to deter use ?? along with ??progressive? taxation that has kept the black market in check ?? not the expensive and ineffective criminal justice system.
Counterintuitive as it may sound to some, especially to some of our elected policymakers, if government were really serious about actually reducing cannabis use in the country, it should employ society??s ever-evolving mores and values for tobacco and alcohol products ?? not criminal sanctions and prohibition laws ?? as the commonsense, moral and constitutional way to move forward with a rational cannabis policy.
Anti-cannabis crusaders have filled the public??s head with propaganda about super-potent strains of marijuana killing people. This is all rubbish. Cannabis is completely non-lethal. Technically, it is possible to overdose on marijuana. As the nice lady at the Cannabis College in Amsterdam explained, any time you feel the effects of THC, you have technically overdosed. High potency strains of cannabis have certainly become widely available thanks to the efforts of skilled botanists and the entrepreneurial prowess of dispensary owners. However, the most likely impact of a THC overdose is that you eat a large pizza by yourself and sit on the couch laughing at cartoons.
People overdose on prescription drugs and alcohol every day, and yet there??s no great rush to outlaw either of them. In fact, the risk of overdosing on completely legal substances like Johnny Walker or Tylenol is pretty high and the impacts are much larger than a marijuana overdose. Potheads don??t wreck their cars the way alcoholics do. And I??ve never heard of somebody having their stomach pumped because they took one too may bong rips. The key to avoiding a situation where you??re too stoned to get off the couch is the same as it is with alcohol - know your limits and consume your weed responsibly. Avoid mixing cannabis with alcohol or other drugs, because marijuana enhances the effects of other substances. This is why it is such a powerful medical tool.
I??ll get off the pro-pot platform for a moment so that you don??t think I??m being completely one-sided. I will concede that some people have a tendency to overuse marijuana, and I??m not one of those people who believe that marijuana isn??t addictive. It is - so is chocolate, sex, and American Idol. But do we really want to get rid of everything that has the potential to be addictive. The majority of Americans support marijuana legalization. According to a poll release last week, more than 50% of Americans support marijuana legalization. In fact, in a recent town hall meeting with President Obama, marijuana legalization was the most popular question asked by respondents. The times, they are a changing.
It??s time to change America??s drug policy. Instead of focusing on average pot consumers, the government should be going after meth dealers and redirecting funds to crystal meth prevention and rehabilitation. The gay community have been hit especially hard by crystal meth usage. And the gay community would stand to benefit from the legalization of marijuana - HIV patients, in particular, have reported several advantages of medical marijuana usage. If the government really wanted to stem the tide of drugs coming over the border and eradicate crystal meth from our communities, it could do so. All it would take is the political will, because the half of the public??s already on board. Political leaders just need to recognize that the majority of their constituents already support cannabis consumption.
