Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

It seems to be a debate that is growing age old and tired. Should marijuana be legalized for recreational or medicinal purposes? Well in my own fairly biased opinion, I say yes. But I do not do so without bringing a few facts to the table first.
First of all, prohibition of marijuana puts an unfair strain on both the legal system and the criminal justice system. This year alone, over 755,000 people were arrested for marijuana related crimes. This accounted for 45% of ALL drug arrests, with 88% of these people being arrested for simple possession. Also, 58% of all people jailed in the U.S. prison system are there because of NON- violent drug offenses. Although there were no numbers available as to the percentage of recreational marijuana, but no doubt, the antiquated drug laws in this country have put a major strain on the prison system as well.
Each year, the war on drugs costs the American taxpayers TENS of BILLIONS of dollars. This year, to date, the government has spent 29 BILLION dollars. Are there any other things that you could think of that the government could do with 29 billion dollars? How about universal health insurance, food programs, or better educational systems?
So, some people may argue that is a necessary expense to keep the public safe from drug abuse. Here then are more numbers that may interest you. 400,000 people last year died from tobacco use. Over 100,000 people died last year from alcohol usage. Also, an additional 15,000 people died from the use of LEGAL drugs, including caffeine and aspirin. The

amount of people that have died from marijuana usage last year equaled a very big ZERO.
As stated earlier, marijuana costs the U.S. taxpayers a LOT of money each year. But what would happen if it were legalized? The National Organization for Marijuana Laws(NORML) offers this scenario: If pot were taxed $1 per half gram, the potential state income from taxes in California would equal about 1 billion per year. If the same taxes that are applied ti cigarettes were applied to marijuana, that number jumps to 3-5 billion dollars. If the tax structure equaled that of wine, at 1/3 the wine industry, the number of state revenue would top 8 billion per year. This is just for consumable marijuana. For industrial grade

marijuana or hemp, the revenues would be far higher, and the impact of the environment would be extremely positive. Hemp can be use for paper production. It is a renewable resource. For every one acre of hemp, you would save 4.1 acres of trees in paper production. Please consider that this savings would be yearly as hemp grows yearly, where a tree can take many years before it is mature enough to be used for industrial uses.
So in summation, to legalize marijuana would be a fiscally and environmentally responsible thing for our government to do. As of July, two lawmakers in congress agreed. Democrat Barney Frank and Republican Ron Paul have introduced an initiative into congress calling for the decriminalization of marijuana. Should the question ever be put to the voters in New Jersey to decide whether or not to legalize marijuana, I hope this newsletter will help you to make a more informed decision.