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Legalization of Marijuana. 3/19/12. A brief preface to the conversation…. Marijuana IS illegal. There are potentially severe legal consequences for its use, possession, and distribution. Period.
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Legalization of Marijuana 3/19/12
A brief preface to the conversation… • Marijuana IS illegal. • There are potentially severe legal consequences for its use, possession, and distribution. Period. • Anything presented hereafter is for the sake of discussion. I do not condone marijuana use, possession, or distribution. • In fact, I STRONGLY discourage you to potentially harm your future.
Political Standpoint • Candidate support • How many of you would vote for a presidential candidate if he/she supported the legalization of marijuana? • How many of you would not vote for this person if they supported the legalization of marijuana?
From this graph, can you see the difficulty that candidates may have if they support/don’t support the legalization?
From the previous breakdown, what exactly should a pro-legalize candidate’s campaign look like? • Who would they appeal to? • What strategies should they employ?
Economic Standpoint • Largest cash crop in California, with annual revenues approaching $14 billion. • A 10% pot tax would yield $1.4 billion in California alone. • Economic impact: • thousands of new jobs in agriculture, packaging, marketing and advertising.
Some Costs • 60,000 to 85,000 of those arrested for marijuana crimes were sentenced to county jail or prison terms. • The average cost of incarcerating a man or woman for year in 2005 was $23,876. The cost of incarceration varies widely from state to state, from a low of $13,000 in Louisiana to a high of $45,000 in Rhode Island. • We, the taxpayers, shoulder the burden for caring for those inmates and for their families as well when they have to turn to public assistance to survive. Legalizing Marijuana would reduce that tax burden along with prison overcrowding and the need for more prisons.
Where would the revenue from marijuana go? • Relieving taxes for prisons, etc. ???? *Where SHOULD the revenue go?
Social Standpoint • Safety? • Impaired driving for example • Crime • Would this lead to impulsivity and cause more crimes like robbery/vandalism/rape? • Would the legalization lead to social degradation?
Some Stats! • Statistically the number of arrests for Marijuana possession and sales has increased by 800 percent since 1990. • Since 1990, over 5.9 million U.S. citizens have been arrested for Marijuana charges, that’s more Americans than the entire populations of the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined and with the District of Columbia thrown in for good measure. • Roughly 88 percent of those arrested, were charged with possession and use. A mere 12 percent were charged with sales and/or manufacturing. • In 2007, the last year for which statistics are available, 782,000 American were arrested on Marijuana charges.
These new FBI statistics indicate that one marijuana smoker is arrested every 45 seconds in America. • Taken together, the total number of marijuana arrests for 2000 far exceeded the combined number of arrests for violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Food For Thought • ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS • TOBACCO …………………… 400,000 • ALCOHOL …………………… 100,000 • ALL LEGAL DRUGS ………….20,000 • ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS ……….15,000 • CAFFEINE …………………….2,000 • ASPIRIN ………………………500 • MARIJUANA …………………. 0
Soooo…. • What should we do?? Why?? • Does anyone change their opinion after hearing some facts?
