Marijuana Should Be Legalized

Marijuana should be legalized. I will provide an interpretation of the resolution and outline the current complications with the prohibition of marijuana (which prove to not be justifiable), as well as the immense benefits of the legalization of marijuana. Interpretation of Resolution: Although Con has not provided any opening statements, I will make assumptions in accordance with their stance on the debate. Pro believes that marijuana should not be legalized and rather prohibited, though no opening statements have been given I will argue on my stance of legalizing marijuana, and how legalization proves to be much more justifiable compared to prohibition of marijuana.1. Current complications with the prohibition of marijuanaA. Enforcement of marijuana laws is expensiveCurrently, the prohibition of marijuana costs the federal and state government as much as $7.7 billion. [1] Such a cost does not justify the government's reasoning behind the "effects" of marijuana, which are backed by little evidence. Furthermore, there is substantial evidence which shows that a vast majority of the so-called "effects" on one's health through the use of marijuana are in fact untrue. [2] [1] . http://economics.about.com...[2]http://www.drugpolicy.org...B. Enforcement of marijuana results in more negative effects on an individual's life than marijuana itselfEnforcing the prohibition of marijuana has placed a majority of people with innocent intentions behind bars, thus exposing them to "hardened criminals" and providing the potential to be negatively influenced. Furthermore, majority of these people are employed and have families to support, further supporting the notion of these individuals have innocent intentions. 49.5% of all individuals incarcerated for drug-violations are connected to marijuana [3], this means that a substantial amount of the total population of those incarcerated for drug violations connected to marijuana in fact have good intentions, with next to no harm in mind. With the costs of living and raising a family (in certain circumstances), being incarcerated would further make these obstacles more difficult to overcome. In a family circumstance, children will miss out on a great deal of seeing their parent, just as the parent will miss seeing their child/ren. These two brief examples exemplify how the prohibition can in fact result in more negative effects than the use of marijuana itself (where the effects were outlined about in [2]). [3] . http://www.policymic.com...C. It is near impossible to constantly enforce marijuana lawsWith such a wide range of people using it for innocent uses, marijuana laws are proven to be difficult to enforce. It is estimated that up to 2.4 million people use marijuana for the first time every year and most will not be arrested for it. [4]. This deems the prodigious expenses of marijuana enforcement to be unnecessary, as the laws do not in fact prevent marijuana use. All in all this proves, once more, the unjustifiable nature of marijuana prohibition. 2. Benefits of the legalization of marijuanaA. Legalization can result in profits for the government via taxSince the recent legalization of marijuana in Colorado, it has been estimated that Colorado will bring in more than $70 million in new taxes enacted in relation to marijuana. Furthermore, if all states in the United States were to legalize marijuana, a combination of reduced law enforcement costs and tax revenues would be worth more than $17 billion [5]. Such tax revenues would result in financing being available for the improvement of school facilities, for example. [5]: . http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com...B. Legalization will result in marijuana being more accessible to assist those with existing conditions, or as a source of preventing conditionsResearch from associations such as the American Association for Cancer Research have found that marijuana slows down tumour growth drastically. Furthermore, cases such as treating migraines, seizures, glaucoma patients and slowing down the tics in those with tourettes are just a few of a multitude of examples which prove the health benefits of marijuana. [6]With this being said, legalization will result in marijuana being more accessible to the general public, thus assisting those in need with any conditions aforementioned drastically. [6] . http://legalizemarijuana.tumblr.com...VOTING