Monday, August 31, 2009
Marijuana, anyone?
I didn't really know where to start when I heard we had to make one post a week on our blogs. I thought I should just check out a news sight and see if inspiration strikes. On the home page of msn.com I immediately saw an article that caught my attention. It was about a pot garden located in the depths of a Nevada national park. This article in itself does not pose a very debatable subject. However, it made me think of the ongoing dispute concerning the legalization of marijuana. After last falls stock market fiasco many articles pertaining to the positive effects of legalizing marijuana in California were published and accepted with less hostility than ever before. Specialists predict that taxes on marijuana could produce over 1.2 billion dollars for the state of California, and in a time of economic devastation, 1.2 billion sounds pretty good (http://www.examiner.com/x-11447-LA-Science-and-Tech-News-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Legalization-of-Marijuana-could-add-Billions-to-Californias-empty-coffers--let-the-debate-begin). However, the idea of a currently illegal drug becoming the states number one cash crop overnight is troubling to many and therefore the battle for legalization rages on. I find it interesting that marijuana, a drug that has been illegal in the United States for decades, is being put under review for legalization. People have viewed this drug so negatively for so long, but is there reason behind this anxiety? Is this fear meaningless? Could legalization actually significantly aid our economy? If legalization occurs will we regret it? What do YOU think.
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This is an interesting topic to bring up Andy. I was also intrigued when I recently saw the new debate over marijuana and how open the news has become to it. I saw news segments that showed numerous pictures of marijuana and where it was grown and did not talk about it negatively. If legalizing marijuana would seriously help the economy, then I think they should do it. The thing is that there might be negative side affects that go along with it. Would people being high all the time affect their work or jobs? But would people really even do it more than they already do if it were legalized? We can not be sure but I would like to see how this whole deal turns out.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting point Andy. My views on the subject are torn. While it is true that marijuana has been illegal and frownded upon for decades, not to mention it is one of the focuses of the highly expensive 'War on Drugs'. Not only that, but it could seriouly hamper the work force and the school system, it would be much easier to get high. But also, 1.2 billion dollars would seriously help boost the economy and help the government get the country back on track. Perhaps one solution could be to legalize for a limited time, perhaps just a few years, but the real question is, do the benefits of legalizing marijauna outweigh the costs?
ReplyDeleteAs others have already mentioned, this is a very interesting, as well as debatable topic. But I believe that it would be a very beneficial choice to legalize marijuana. First of all, as previously stated, our economy is the tank and probably will not start to get better at least for another couple of years. I would venture to say that marijuana is most likely one of the top untaxed products of the informal economy. If it were to be taxed, I cannot even begin to imagine the cash flow that the government would receive for all the marijuana that is bought and sold throughout the US. Whether marijuana is legal or not, people are going to buy it; the government might as well get some tax benefits on it. Also, I think that if marijuana was legalized it might even stop people from using it. I think the reason most people use marijuana is because they can't. They want to feel the exhiliration and that rush one gets from breaking the rules. I think the same goes for drinking as well. So if one grows up with being allowed to use marijuana, I think they would be less compelled to use it, simply because they are allowed to; they wouldn't be breaking the rules. I'm sorry if that's extremely confusing to read, it made sense in my mind!
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