 "Photo: Caitlin Griffin, Citrus College Clarion")
Legalizing marijuana will increase California’s tax revenue, decrease crime and prison populations and benefit recreational and medical users.
Let’s consider the facts involved in this controversy.
Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996. Marijuana is said to increase cancer patients’ appetite, cure insomnia, reduce anxiety and help relieve chronic pain.
Nobody can deny that California’s finances are in crisis.
Medical marijuana is already earning California about $14 billion a year.
According to a government study, legalizing marijuana for recreational use could generate $1.5 billion to $4 billion in additional tax revenue for California.
In addition, the United States spends about $68 billion a year housing prisoners.
According to the Office of Legislative Research Report, one-third of those imprisoned were convicted of non-violent drug crimes and half of those are marijuana offenders. This means that one-sixth of America’s prisoners are in jail for marijuana charges. Legalizing marijuana would mean that tax payers could save $11.3 billion a year.
Some people argue that marijuana is addictive and that it would therefore be irresponsible to legalize it.
However, studies have shown that unlike cigarettes, marijuana is not physically addictive.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana can be mentally addictive.
This means that users feel like they are dependent on it. They think that marijuana is what relieves their anxiety or helps them sleep at night. When really, it is all in there head.
In addition, although many would disagree, marijuana is far less physically harmful than other legal substances such as cigarettes and alcohol. Cigarettes include the addictive substance nicotine. Marijuana does not.
Smoking tobacco can lead to lung and throat cancer, emphysema, and bronchial and lung disorders.
Consuming alcohol can lead to irreversible brain damage, stomach ulcers, alcohol dependent hepatitis, cancer of the mouth and throat, high blood pressure and heart and liver diseases.
So why is there such an opposition to the legalization of this drug if, medically, its primary use is alleviating symptoms of the ill?
It’s the basic social stigma. Marijuana has been socially unacceptable for so long that many are not ready to accept its legalization.
Advocates need to overcome the negative perceptions so that the beneficial properties of recreational marijuana become socially acceptable.
Marijuana should be legalized for recreational use.
It is high time that the public be given the opportunity to partake in a victimless crime without fear of prosectution.
We need to overcome the social blocks so that we can see the crucial beneficial properties of recreational marijuana.
Legalizing marijuana will not only increase California’s income, but decrease crime and benefit recreational and medical users.
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.243 * 304,059,724 = 73,886,512.932 persons under 18 in USA
304,059,724 - 73,886,512.932 = 230,173,211.068 persons over 18 in USA
11.1% of the population is foreign born. I'll assume half of these people (5.55% US pop.) are not citizens and cannot vote..055 * 230,173,211.068 = 12,659,526.60874
and 6.5 of US adult pop. has a felony record:
.065 * 230,173,211.068 = 14,961,258.71942
This leaves us with:
230,173,211.068 - 12,659,526.60874 - 14,961,258.71942 = 202,552,425.73984 ELIGIBLE VOTERS.069 * 304,059,724 = 20,980,120.956 under 5 years old73,886,512.932 - 20,980,120.956 = 52,906,391.976 between 5 and 18
Assume this population is evenly distributed among the 12 ages it covers (6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17, count them...):
That is 52,906,391.976 / 12 = 4,408,865.998 of each ageLets assume that no people under 12 have tried marijuana:
Est. Population 13-17 (5 ages) inclusive:
4,408,865.998 * 5 = 22,044,329.99From the Monitoring the Future study, approx. 20% of students in this range have used marijuana in the past year:
.20 * 22,044,329.99 = 4,408,865.998 users under 18So, if there are 100,000,000 total in the US that leaves:
100,000,000 - 4,408,865.998 = 95,591,134.002 users over 18, thus of legal voting age.So:
CONCLUSION:
95,591,134.002 / 202,552,425.73984 = 0.471932803 or about 47% of eligible US voters have used marijuana
which is a very large minority. It may even be the case that those who have tried marijuana already constitute a majority of voters. This calculation is obviously an approximation, as some of those adults are denied the right to vote. Of course not all those who have used marijuana support legalization, and many who have not used marijuana do support legalization. Since those over 70 (elderly and most likely to die, who grew up before marijuana became popular in the 1960s) are the least likely to have smoked cannabis, I think voters who have are likely to constitute a majority fairly soon, and probably already do in several states.The best data comes from recent Gallup survey which determined that 44% of Americans favor ending cannabis prohibition. In western states, the number was 53%, a solid majority.Keep fighting the good fight!Sources:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/08data/fig08_11.pdf
http://people.howstuffworks.com/criminal-record.htm (not the best, but best I could find)
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123728/U.S.-Support-Legalizing-Marijuana-Reaches-New-High.aspx
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