9-year-old Zaki was living life like a toddler, suffering from constant seizures and a crippling dependency on his mother, Heather Jackson. The medical marijuana strain, Charlotte’s Web, transformed their lives. Previously relying on 17 types of medication, he had no seizures after one dose of this miracle marijuana strain. After many unallowing years, Zaki could finally ride a swing, pumping his legs all by himself.
Many ailing families have to struggle immensely to obtain medical marijuana. It is very common to hear of people moving to Colorado or Phoenix to receive the strains required to aid someone in need. Cannabis benefits the treatment of chronic pain relief, depression and anxiety, induces cancer-fighting agents, regulates seizures, etc. When the benefits outweigh the costs, what more is there to consider?
In the years since the legalization of marijuana being a mere proposition, there are currently 33 states affirming medical usage and 11 approving recreational usage. The legalization of marijuana would be beneficial, as continually taxing us on it allows the economy to flourish. Colorado voters charged a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana sales that directed the revenue into the construction of schools, as well as channeling separate revenue into homeless services. As stated by the Tax Foundation, all government levels are deprived of $28 billion in yearly tax revenues by not supporting legalization.
The views on drug policy continue to change, as we question this endless economic depletion because of a never-ending drug war. Through law enforcement spending, overflowing prisons, drug cartel violence, and the targeting of marginalized communities, the benefits of reprimanding marijuana usage are very few. The federal government cannot seem to make up its mind on the subject, leaving the states to decide where they stand on the national policy, inherently creating their own. The costs are too high, with little visible improvement on this quest to simply impose the prohibition of marijuana usage.
I believe that marijuana should be legalized. The nation’s habit of racial profiling is all too apparent when concerning marijuana laws. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, white and black folk have almost the same prevalence of marijuana usage, yet people of color are four times more likely to be arrested for crimes in relation to pot. With over 700,000 Americans arrested annually for marijuana possession, these harmless people are deemed convicts and thrust into already overcrowded prisons to face the same repercussions as hardened criminals.
This results in first-time offenders being ripped from their livelihoods and marked forever. Legalizing marijuana would balance the prison system, lower the estimated $8 billion spent a year to prohibit marijuana, allow for medical marijuana to be more accessible, and avoid excessive citizens being molded into criminals.
I believe that the nation would greatly benefit from the legalization of marijuana. Aside from essentially preventing more economic deficiency and allowing us to save money, the structure of law enforcement today would be remedied from singling out minorities in drug-related cases. This would prevent prisons from compromising both harmless marijuana users and felons in the same vicinity under the same restrictions. Dependency on other drugs would improve, and stop fueling the opioid crisis.
The legalization of marijuana would unify the states under a national policy the federal government has ceded from solidifying. Both medical and legalized marijuana would create jobs in a mature industry setting, through direct sales of products, income, and levied payroll taxes on workers. The states and its citizens must unite under one voice and cooperate henceforth to ensure a more just drug policy.