NCJ Number
169259
Date Published
1998
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This chapter considers reasons why marijuana should be legalized.
Abstract
Prohibition of marijuana is quite expensive to maintain. The government prosecutes dealers and users, eradicates crops both within and outside the country and attempts to inform the public about the drug; none of these efforts is working the way it was designed to do. Legalizing marijuana would eliminate the black market for the drug and bring an end to the high cost of arresting and prosecuting individuals who possess or sell marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse released findings that over three-fourths of all drug-related arrests each year are for marijuana, for what are almost always non-violent crimes. Mandatory sentencing is putting thieves and murderers back on the street to make room in prisons for people who are only hurting themselves. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, produces no hangover and is flushed naturally out of the body over a period of time; it is not strongly addictive like nicotine. Legalization would provide a source of government revenue from taxation and would save government money through reduction in prison populations and in law enforcement activities.