The Financial Prospects of The Commercialization of Marijuana

For centuries it has been used to relax, to help people eat better, and sometimes, to just make people feel good. Although this may not be the noblest of reasons, is it is a fact that we as independent minded citizens have an inherent right to decide for ourselves whether or not to use marijuana. Even alcohol, which has been found in all but the most antiquated forms of language, is meant to help people relax. For a short while this was debated and during prohibition crime flourished, but eventually it was realized that it would be foolish to ban a substance merely on the grounds that it "caused evil in others". What has the prohibition of marijuana done for its popularity and distribution, and what has it done for our economy? I propose that marijuana be legalized in that it would give the citizens of America back a right that many other countries provide while also helping to boost the economy.

Many people slander and downplay the positive effects of marijuana, using arguments such as "it destroys families and destroys lives" and "it is a dangerous substance that causes immorality in those who use it" to justify the pilfering of our right. What the arguments lack however is solid empirical data, which when given the slim chance analysation confirms that marijuana is not as dangerous as alcohol. "For the sake of our own credibility we cannot allow that alcohol and tobacco, which kill 10 000 people a year in Switzerland, are sold with all kinds of marketing wizardry, while consumption of cannabis, a less dangerous product, is a legal offence", said the Swiss Institute for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse" (Kapp, 970)We always hear the sob stories of our corrupt society narrating on how marijuana suddenly came in one day and destroyed their lives or how society blames and accuses the medium through which our society facilitates its evils but not at the root of our societies evils itself. How many times have we seen the biased government's ad or smear campaign on how marijuana can cause you too kill your baby brother or cause the death of a loved one? When we are confronted with such a proposal it is just that we view the problem at its source and recognize that irresponsibility and poor parenting habits are to blame for many of society's flaws. While barring citizens from the democratic right they may hold might seem the correct course of action for a parent, it however is not the right of the government.

Prohibition was clearly a mistake and is an error our country has paid for dearly with many negative side effects being produced. The governments attempt to suppress citizen rights to alcoholic beverages have led to the creation of underground networks of crime that is prevalent even today in the form of the mafia. If the government had saved the time, energy, and effort it has wasted on the illegalization of marijuana but focused it instead on harder drugs that are physically addictive and have the high potential of destroying society. "The British government has reduced the penalty for smoking marijuana so it can wage war on harder drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, that "cause most harm to communities.""(Kapp, 970) Countless countries have already taken this same approach and have yielded very positive results from it. "Last year there were a reported 167 deaths, down 15*2% on 2002 and the lowest level for 16 years. (In 994, one of the peak years, 399 people died of drug abuse.)" (Kapp, 970) It not a matter of whether or not it will have a positive effect upon society but only a matter of outcry for the return of the right to possess marijuana by the citizens to finally cause change in the government.

When the Declaration of independence was signed in congress on July 4, 1776, it included a sentence explicitly stating that we are given certain set of unalienable rights including the pursuit of happiness. Although interpreted by many for many different reasons, the statement of being in pursuit of happiness clearly proves to even the most casual observer that rights such as marijuana are inherent and should not be prohibited. However, because marijuana is restricted because of its role "in the pursuit of happiness" it is also limited to patients who use the plant for medicinal purpose such as one individual who pleaded "All I'm asking is that you don't make me a criminal in order to keep myself eating and at a weight that I can maintain and allow me to keep taking the AIDS drugs that are keeping me alive," (Drug Week, p342) Examples such as this show that there is something innately wrong with our legal system. When the use of a substance to sustain life is prohibited by the federal government but allowed by the state government it confirms that although, the federal government bans marijuana, the state government, which has a better feel for its inhabitants, feels otherwise. This contradiction has caused many problems, especially for those who use marijuana sanctioned by their state. Some have been arrested, handcuffed, had their house ransacked, and have been subjected to other injustices all for exercising their right granted to them by their state.

Picture a country where we are not allowed to bear arms because of what some might use them for. Imagine a world where free citizens do not have the right to drink or smoke cigarettes. Although this world exists only in our imagination, it is not a far stretch to the seizing of our right to possess marijuana. Be it alcohol or marijuana or even the right to bear arms, the confiscation of our rights by conservative politicians and special interest groups remains a injustice that should be amended. With the millions of dollars saved on the fight over supporting an outdated law, our country can focus on society's problems that hit closer to home and develop programs that will help society prevent its members from using marijuana to escape troubles. I propose that marijuana be legalized for those who meet the age requirement and that the dangers it presents passed on to responsible parents, guardians, and citizens from which our country was founded.