The legalization of Marijuana in the United States would promote a strong economy.

Here, I'm quoting the whole argument because first I would like to point out something about the sources cited. In the first source where you claim that "figure 11" has relevance to your argument, I can't find anything beneficial to your case or anything relevant. However, what I DO see is this: "CIR data (Figure 8) show that deaths decreased steadily from a high of 344 in 1988 to a low of 171 in 1994. " What I see this to be is an admittance of the deaths on the border decreasing by somewheres near 50% over a course of 6 years. **Also, all of these crimes that you refer to are crimes based upon the fact that Marijuana is illegal. For example, "Typically, growers cultivate cannabis outdoors with booby traps situated among and around the plants. " They wouldn't have to booby trap their crops if it was legal. Figure 11 is simple to read, how you managed not to see anything beneficial is beyond me. Above the graph in big bold letters states "ATTACKS ON BORDER PATROL AGENTS", and above that is a detailed explanation if you still cant read the graph. As you stated about figure 8, this is "migrant deaths", not smugglers. Smugglers make these runs on a daily basis with great success by using children as smugglers, tunnels, hidden cargo traps in vehicles, and have set safe houses for there cargo on the U. S. side of the border when they get across. To put it simply, there methods work, migrants die due to extreme heat, poor planning or by simply being lost, this does not occur with the smugglers. **On the contrary, these crimes are not based upon the fact that they are legal but because of violence towards rival gangs, growers, distributors etc. They do not booby trap cannabis plants because they are illegal but for the same reason why you would put up a fence or traps for a home garden full of fruit and vegetables to keep out pests, in this case humans. I'm afraid your numbers are either old, wrong, or the fact that it was the Dutch sales makes it irrelevant. The fact is, that in California, "A bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the cash-strapped state, according to an official analysis released Wednesday by tax officials. " Marijuana on the streets isn't being taxed, therefore the revenue WOULD be considerably less. Keep in mind that this 1.4 billion dollars is only for the state of California, imagine the whole United States. [1] No, these numbers are correct and also relevant due to the fact that these are real numbers recorded by a country where marijuana is legal for consumers and not just medical. Do you have a source available for the information above? Because once again this is just speculation and estimates, i provide actual numbers from a country where it is actually legal. $1.4 billion in a hugely populated state, what about Montana? North and South Dakota? Alaska? There numbers would not come near to California's due to there population. And if marijuana was legalized then more people would simply grow there own just like the countless numbers of people who own small/large gardens in there backyards, sorry cant tax that. Also keep in mind of states rights. Just because the federal government say its legal doesn't mean other states must or will follow. I think the correct term you were looking for is THEIR Marijuana sales. In any case, there wouldn't be drug dealers selling Marijuana. It would be distributed mainly through stores. The sales tax would work just like buying cigarettes. Buying cigarettes and buying marijuana are two totally different things. People buy and smoke multiple packs of cigarettes each day, while marijuana users only smoke marijuana cigarettes in much less quantities and very much less often. Also, you are able to buy almost anything over the internet, ebay, amazon, etc. If you do not live in the state where you are buying from, there is no sales tax, there would be no profit for the government. . http://www.cigoutlet.net... (you can buy cigarettes online in case you were wondering) Gang's aren't the only people affiliated with Marijuana. The big gang raids and things of that nature tend to follow more important drugs, Cocaine in particular. Give me some facts of how gang violence is a factor in the distribution of Marijuana please. As far as I know you are only able to obtain marijuana from drug dealers, but please enlighten me on who else is affiliated with it. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among youth in the United States (This is based on fact, and my source below) We can all agree that the majority of marijuana users are between the ages of 16-24, if the U. S. legalizes it they would regulate it, like you said, like tobacco or even alcohol because of its affects on the human body. In this case this would cut out 16, 17, and 18 year old's if the tobacco regulation is used and the ages 16-20 would be cut out if the alcohol approach is taken, cutting profits by more than half for the government making this NOWHERE near a strong promotion towards the economy. Current marijuana use decreased from 27% in 1999 to 20% in 2007. This now cuts even more profits with the lack of buyers, not looking so good for your case concerning profits, no buyers, no sales, no tax revenue. Drug trafficking is ran by drug cartels who are usually based out of Mexico and extremely violent. Once the marijuana reaches the U. S. distributors must then sell the drugs, creating "turf wars" and violence between gangs selling the same drug. I don't know what else you want me to say? Maybe I should be asking you the same thing, where are the facts, not the assumptions and speculations. I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say here. And I didn't say "Hell McDonald's annual. .. " I don't think you meant to include that as a part of my quoted argument, but you did. Voters, don't be confused. I posted a comment explaining that I had accidentally started to write my statements directly after yours and must have forgotten to deleted it. You claimed that marijuana sales would flourish like tobacco and alcohol sales. This is false as I said before, because Marijuana sales can not touch the sales of tobacco or alcohol alone, even if your speculation of $1.4 billion per state is true, which also depends on population, popularity and if states even pass the law to legalize it. My argument stands while you have not made any attempt to discredit my point or at least try to support your own point from round 1. 6. "Can't say this is exactly a factual assertion considering it is speculation based upon the Tobacco industry. As far as my standing on this, to say that there will be 200 Americans employed will be just as good as your "factual assertion" due to the fact that it is only speculation. " "All and all as you can tell through actual facts and numbers Marijuana sales taken from a country where it is actually legal and the sales are recorded, this would not "strongly" promote our economy or promote it anymore than Mcdonald's does. The legalization of Marijuana in the United States will have no strong or near strong promotion in our economy. "