Would legalizing marijuana boost the US economy?

[Amelia G]

With the recent flap about Michael Phelps, it is pretty clear that most Americans are not exactly horrified by marijuana usage. One of the reasons given for the repeal of Prohibition was to help get the USA out of the Depression.

Do you think legalizing marijuana at the Federal level would boost the US economy? If so, do you think it should be prescription only or an over the counter item like Advil?

[OliX]

Prescription only, so that they could make statistics and logs on people.
But prescription it self should be easy to obtain for anyone. Age limit would be smart too, maybe 21.

[Aza]

EASILY!

Were the U.S. government to even consider legalization, they would first have to stop spending money on wiping this plant from the face of the earth... which would save them a few mil right there, if not more like a few bil. I can practically vouch that RJR and other cigarette companies ALREADY HAVE marijuana cigarettes ready to roll out of their plants as soon as the government votes for legalization and decides what kind of tax they wish to attach. When... not if, but WHEN... they do, we can happily sit back and watch this deficit of ours disappear. It's a one-step process really. I keep waiting for them to realize it, but it's OUR government, so they're a bit slow.

[OliX]

Thing is that cannabis in any form is mind opening substance. It doesn't work on knowledge or experience directly but on wisdom it self. There you have one of the reasons cannabis is forbidden.

[VoltaireBlue]

yes, and it should be readily available for those over 21. I don't smoke it, but that's how I feel about it.

[bohoki]

hell the sale of fritos and twinkies will go through the roof

[nathanmbailey]

The problem with legalizing it means that they would then have to regulate the strength. It wouldn't stop people from growing and doing whatever to make stronger stuff than what you would buy in a pack, bag, whatever, and selling it untaxed. Marijuana and tobacco are completely different when you talk about regulating it.

Legalizing and taxing it would help the economy, but there's a lot of other stuff they could do first that would pull us out of this shit in less than 2 years.

[TheDeathKnight]

The idea is that pot goes up in price because of the cost of smuggling it.
If it's grown legally in the US, then the price might be a lot cheaper
than the illegal stuff. Maybe not quite as good, but much cheaper.

And then the government gets tax dollars from the sales.

And they get to stop spending money on law-enforcement, courts, and prisons, for people busted for selling and using it...

Because you could still bust people for selling it illegally.
So it would make it a lot more appealing for people to buy
it legally, and avoid any legal problems by getting busted
for having "illegal" pot.

But yeah, I think it would be a good idea.
It's no worse than alcohol.
And it would have the same regulations.
Can't sell to kids, can't drive under the influence,
can't use it at work, etc...
But at home after work? Who cares?

[Amelia G]

Obviously. But if they start trying to tax people for growing it in their own gardens then they can fuck off and eat shit.

Wouldn't that still be better than arresting people for growing it in their own gardens?

[Ajax Knucklebones]

If they make it legal than it should be illegal to grow it in your garden. It's illegal to have a still, so what's the difference. If people say that pot should be legal because alcohol is also legal then the same types of laws should apply. Taxes, strength, who's allowed to produce it, who's allowed to sell it. You can bitch all you want about "What do you mean we can no longer grow it?!?!", but I'm sure a majority of Americans wouldn't give a shit. Just the fact that you wouldn't have to go looking for it, the convienence of being able to buy it where beer is sold, like 7/11's and shit, would far outweigh the fact that we couldn't cultivate our own. Convienence....It's what drives Americans.

[Mr Karl]

it wouldn't help the economy at all. there might be a bit of change here and there but overall no change............it'll maybe cost a lot more, they'll say it's to pay for the costs to medical system or something like that.........

but, bad idea

[ForrestBlack]

If they make it legal than it should be illegal to grow it in your garden. It's illegal to have a still, so what's the difference. If people say that pot should be legal because alcohol is also legal then the same types of laws should apply.

I think a still is way more dangerous and usually fairly harmful to the environment, so I think an argument could be made that the situations are in fact different.

[ForrestBlack]

I would like to see the actual statistics on revenue currently produced by legal dispensaries. People have the notion that vice products make WAY more money than they realistically do. I'm for legalization, but I'm not a big tax and spender. Hell, I bet the states would probably save more budget by having less incarcerations and law enforcement expenses for minor drug offenses than they would ever make in additional taxes. Regulation of the pot market might be good for government, but it would also put individuals out of business.

So, yes, but my perspective, similar to what DeathKnight mentioned, is that state budget savings would probably be greater then earnings, which is important to take into consideration when making the case for legalization.

[Nos]

yes, and it should be readily available for those over 21....

That's how I feel about it too.

[Buster Friendly]

If they make it legal than it should be illegal to grow it in your garden. It's illegal to have a still, so what's the difference. If people say that pot should be legal because alcohol is also legal then the same types of laws should apply. Taxes, strength, who's allowed to produce it, who's allowed to sell it. You can bitch all you want about "What do you mean we can no longer grow it?!?!", but I'm sure a majority of Americans wouldn't give a shit. Just the fact that you wouldn't have to go looking for it, the convienence of being able to buy it where beer is sold, like 7/11's and shit, would far outweigh the fact that we couldn't cultivate our own. Convienence....It's what drives Americans.

I can brew all the beer I want. I just have to get permits if I want to open a microbrewery and sell it.

If you decriminalize pot, you have to decriminalize home grown.

The "boost" to the economy will be negligible to non-existent. The amount of money we save on not wasting our money in law enforcement, and incarceration, will be lost because of lost jobs in law enforcement, and prisons.

Fucking whatever. Pot laws are asinine. Our drug laws are asinine. Treat addicts reduce their numbers, the market dries up, the dealers move on to more profitable ventures.

[malcolm]

yes it would and no it woudlnt.
yes, "sin" items such as tobacco alcohol and pornography are big business out here and legalising marijuanna would certainly be added tot hat list if it were legalised and marketed as either a prescription or recreational drug like salvia-which is perfectly legal in arizona and probably will stay so for the exact same argument that people give for not legalising marijuana ironically (to hard to contain, peole can just grow it in their backyard if they wanted. etc. etc) but and this is a big but........the government in all it's powerufl wisdom would eventually decide to OVER capitalise on it by taxing it to holy fuck for all sorts of purposes wether for legit causes or just os some business owner or lobbyist or politician can pad their pockets a little by "forming a commitee to look into funding " such and such....and eventually it would end up being too expensive for the average joe shmoe to afford a pack of 'camel brand doobylicous" or "marlboro shaggy skunk" and we'd end up with the same sitch we have now.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I think a still is way more dangerous and usually fairly harmful to the environment, so I think an argument could be made that the situations are in fact different.

You're harshing my buzz, man.

[Morning Glory]

it depends on how you define "making money". Or rather who you want to be making the money.

Obviously marijuana already makes people a considerable amount of money and if you want to look at it based on supply and demand, the sale of marijuana for recreational use makes as much money as it can now, and making it legal would increase the supply without much increasing the demand, so that would mean that it actually made less money from a market standpoint.

legalizing it for prescription use only or taxing it will make some people money, but it won't help the economy at all because it doesn't benefit the private sector.

from that viewpoint ironically the best policy for the economy is to keep it illegal because all of the money that is being spent by drug dealers helps the economy more than any thing else you could do with it.

Also the war on drugs provides tons of jobs, pads the pockets of the government more than the tax would, and gives justification to services that are favorable for them, such as policing of the population and border security, both of which are sold as safety measures supported by the gullible citizenry, and of course all the money that is made by putting people in jail, from the payments the city receives in fines, to the jobs of the court personnel, to the corporate invested prisons, and the prisoners turned workers.

so it seems like the best thing to do for people to make the most money is to keep it illegal and criminalized.

[One Eyed Cat]

21+ no prescription. No additional taxes. I don't smoke it either.

OEC