All joking aside, legalizing marijuana is a valid economic argument

February 25, 2010

By Michelle Hu
<mhu@hilite.org> 

Though it’s been an issue for longer, I first heard the idea of marijuana becoming legal during the 2008 election. Back then, there were more serious issues to care about – issues that are still on the forefront of American social policy today; issues such as the economy and international relations.

But perhaps it was the way society treated the idea of legalizing marijuana as a laughing matter—something, in other words, only Libertarian Ron Paul and potheads advocated. I wish someone, anyone, had treated the topic seriously, because the idea deserved, and still deserves, more attention and respect than it received. 

Not only is legalizing medical marijuana a legitimate belief, but so is advocating the legalization of all marijuana. Back in the 1960s, most people who smoked it did so recreationally, just as one-third of Americans do today.

From a completely rational point of view, legalization means taking away a highly popular product from the black market and allowing the government to benefit from sales. 

And this, if represented in numerical form, is something with which many economists agree. In 2005, a group of over 500 economists signed a document headed by Jeffrey Miron, economics professor at Harvard, and included Nobel Prize-winner Milton Friedman.

The bulk of unnecessary expenses, as outlined in that report, came from the fees of detaining and prosecuting offenders who possessed marijuana or used it. In all, a year of fighting marijuana use cost $7.7 billion, and if pot were taxed like a consumer good, it could bring in several million dollars. If pot were taxed like alcohol or cigarettes, that number rises to $6.2 billion.

And we still haven’t considered the effects of legalization on foreign relations. Ever since average people in both the United States and Central and South America realized how profitable growing narcotics became, entering the black market seemed obvious. According to PBS’ “Frontline,” most of the pot in plastic baggies came from Mexico, but marijuana is able to grow well and abundantly (as it did in the 1600s) in Virginia and the South. Legalization means farmers would have another crop to rotate on farms and another profitable market to enter.

For many who have adverse side effects to prescription pain killers, doctors prescribe medical marijuana in states where it is legal as a natural alternative. According to the Washington Post, it allows AIDS patients to sleep and gives them back an appetite. 

And guess what? In California, which approved medical marijuana over a decade ago, a majority of citizens hope to legalize all marijuana in a referendum this year because they’ve realized that taxing it could bring in over $1 billion annually.

It’s about time most Americans treat the illegal drug trade as a serious issue, both economically and socially. Legalizing marijuana hasn’t been very high (no pun intended) on the radar for political leaders since the 1970s, with Jimmy Carter, but it’s about time we stopped joking around.

Updated by perspectives · Filed Under Perspectives 

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