AlyssaPorter1

AlyssaPorter
Mr.Rogers
U.S.Government2
14October2015

DrugLegalizationInTheUnitedStates
TheU.S.Governmenthascontinuedtostrugglewiththeuseofdrugsandtheimportation
ofdrugsthroughcartels.LegalizingrecreationalandmedicinaldruguseintheUnitedStates
wouldallowfortheillegaldrugtradeandusetoend.Thefederalgovernmentwouldthenbeable
totaxdrugsandoverseethecompany'sproducingthedrugsandtheusers.Thiswouldlimitdrug
cartelsandgangsthatgettheirlargestincomebythesellingofdrugs.Thelegalizationwould
alsoallowlawenforcementtofocusonmorecriminalproblemssuchasmurderandtheft.
Althoughthereismuchcontroversyaboutthelegalizationofdrugsduetotheworryaboutusers
overdosingorabusingthedrugs,buteitherwayapersonaddictedtodrugswillgetthem.This
lawwouldsimplyreducetheillegalabuseofdrugsallowingthestatestobenefitandcrimestobe
reduced.LegalizingrecreationalandmedicinaldrugusewouldallowfortheU.S.governmentto
benefitfromtaxcollection,lowercrimerates,andfreeprisonsofovercrowding.
Thelegalizationofdrugswouldallowthegovernmenttotaxproducersandconsumers,
benefitingtheoveralleconomy.Thetaxationwouldlimittheamountofillegaldrugtradeand
provideproducersanduserswithsafedrugproductionanduse.Incertaincases,thelegalization
ofmarijuanainColoradoprovidedinformationprovingthatthestatebenefitedbytaxationof
marijuana.Thefindingsstate,InFebruary,thetaxedandlegalrecreationalsaleofmarijuana

AlyssaPorter2

was$14millionandinMarch,thatfigureshotupto$19million(Pagan&Stroleny).The
legalizationofmarijuanaallowedColoradotobenefitwithtaxation,iftheU.S.government
legalizedalldrugs,thebenefitwouldbemuchgreaterforallstates.Drugsareusedalloverthe
U.S.,causingtheretobeillegalproduction,trade,anduse,whichhurttheeconomy.Asurvey
wastakenontheamountofpeoplethathaveusedtheillegalsubstancemarijuana,stating:
Accordingtothe1991NationalHouseholdSurveyonDrugAbuse,some19.5million
Americansusedmarijuanaatleastonceintheyear,ofwhom5.3millionusedatleastoncea
weekand3.1milliondaily(Gieringer).Thisfindinggivesabitofinsighttotheamountof
marijuanausedbysomeAmericans,notapplyingtotheentirepopulationorallsubstances.
DrugsareofconstantusethroughouttheU.S.Althoughmuchhasbeendonetopreventdrugs,
allthearrestsandincarcerationshaventstoppedtheuseandabuseofdrugs,orthedrugtrade,
orthecrimeassociatedwithblackmarkettransactions(Boaz).Agreateramountwould
completelychangetheU.S.economywiththetaxationofsuchsubstances.Druguseiscommon
throughouttheUnitedStateswiththelegalizationtaxationwouldincreasewealthandlimit
crimerates.
CrimeratesintheUnitedStatesclimbasthedrugtradeincreases.Thegovernmentalso
spendsexcessiveamountsofmoney,attemptingtopreventthesecriminalsfromimportingdrugs.
However,drugcartelsandimporterscontinuetofindwaystobringdrugsintotheUnitedStates.
Criminalsgainlargeamountsofmoneywhilethegovernmentlosesthismoney,stated,Those
whobenefitthemostfromprohibitionareorganizedcrimebarons,whoderiveanestimated$10
to$50billionayearfromtheillegaldrugtrade(AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion).Thedemand
fordrugsintheUnitedStatescausesthesecriminalstomakefortunes,whiletheeconomysuffers

AlyssaPorter3

tryingtopreventthisillegaltrade.Thelegalizingofdrugswouldallowthegovernment,state,
andeconomytorisewiththemoneygainedfromthetaxationofdrugsandstopthepreventionof
illegaldrugtradebecauseitwouldnolongerbeanecessity.Controlofdrugproductionandtrade
wouldalsobringdowncrimerates.Therewouldbelessblackmarketdrugconflictsbecause
drugswouldbemoreaccessibleforusersandwithdisputestheywouldbeabletobesettledin
courtsratherthanonthestreets,leadingtoviolence.Theviolencerateswouldthenlessensince
theblackmarketswoulddecreasebecause,whenblackmarketcontractsarebreached,the
resultisoftensomeformofviolentsanction,whichusuallyleadstoretaliationandthenopen
warfareinthestreets(Boaz).Crimeishighlycenteredaroundthedistributionofdrugsand
problemstheblackmarketforillegaldrugtradehascaused,withdrugsbeinglegalizedthis
problemwoulddecreaseandalongwiththatcrimerates.Theinfluenceofcartelscausesmuchof
thecrimeratesinvolvedarounddrugs.Thedecreaseofcartelcontrolwouldlessencrimeand,
if
drugswerelegal,organizedcrimewouldstandtolosebillionsofdollars,anddrugswouldbe
soldbylegitimatebusinessesinanopenmarketplace(Boaz).Legitimatebusinessesproducing
drugswouldallowissuestobehandledprofessionallyandwithoversightbythegovernment,
limitingcrime.L
egalizingdrugswouldnotonlyreducethecrimerates,butalsothiswould
lessenthearrestsfordrugpossessionandwouldoveralldecreaseprisonovercrowding.
Prisonovercrowdinghasrisenwiththeriseofhighdrugdemand.Theovercrowdingalso
causestaxpayersmoremoney.Thelegalizingofdrugswouldstoptheprisonovercrowdingand
accordingtoareportreleasedbytheAmericanBarAssociation(ABA),despiteincreased
Federalfunds,higherlevelsofdrugarrests,andhigherincarcerationrates,illegaldruguseison
theriseacrossthenation(USAToday).Theexpansionofdrugusehascausedovercrowding

AlyssaPorter4

andcriminalstobesetfreeandtaxmoneyisbeingspentontheseovercrowdedprisonswhenthis
moneycouldbespentoneducationandothercommunityneeds.Thelegalizationofdrugswould
allowlawenforcementtocatchcriminalsthathavecausedseriousoffensesratherthanthearrests
ondrugpossession.Thecostandamountofindividualsisimprisonedfordrugpossession
constantlyincreases,
60,000individualsarebehindbarsformarijuanaoffensesatacostto
taxpayersof$1.2billionperyear(NORML).Themoneyusedtowardsmalldrugoffenses
wouldhighlybenefiteachstateandtheoveralleconomy.TheU.S.governmentwouldbeableto
savethismoneyandgainmorewiththecollectionoftaxesontheproductionandsellingof
drugs,alongwiththattheprisonswouldbemoresafeandtheovercrowdingwouldbelimited.
Thegovernmentcanbenefittheeconomywiththelegalizationofdrugs,butalsothiswould
lowercrimeratesandtheovercrowdingofprisonshowevertherearestillmanyproblemsthat
arecausedwithdruguse.
AlthoughthetaxingofdrugsandtheU.S.scontrolofproductionanddistributionwould
benefitthegovernmentandstates,theuseoftheseproductscanharmusersandcausegreat
addictions.However,eitherwayaddictswillfindawaytogettheseproductssowiththe
government'soversightitcouldbesaferandbettersupervised.Thereareconcernswiththeeffect
ithasonaperson,researchhasshownthatmarijuanacanincreasethelikelihoodof
schizophrenia,mainlyiftheindividualstartedsmokingbeforetheageof18(DrugRehab).The
effectsthatdrugusehasononesbodyarecontroversialandmakeslawmakershesitantabout
legalizingthesecertaindrugs.Thereisalsoconcernaboutanaddictscravingforadrugandwhat
theyarewillingtodo.Manyworrythatthiswouldcausemoretheft,
thefactthatpeoplewho
takedrugsaremorelikelytocommitrelatedcrimes(suchasthefttofundhabit)alsomeansthat

AlyssaPorter5

legalizingthedrugcouldpotentiallyleadtomorecriminalsbeingoutonthestreet(Drug
Rehab).Theaddictiontodrugscouldcauseaddictstocausemorecrimesforthewantofthese
substancesthuscausingmoreproblems.HowevertheseproblemsoccurcurrentlyintheU.S.and
withthegovernmentincontrolofproductionanddistributiontheseissueswouldhopefullybe
reduced.
Thelegalizationofdrugusecanhaveissuesjustlikeallmatters,butwiththeoversightof
thegovernmenttheUnitedStatescanbenefit.Theeconomywouldflourishwiththetaxesplaced
onproducinganddistributingtheseproducts.Alongwitheconomicgrowth,thecrimerates
woulddecreaseduetothehaltofdrugcartelsandillegaldrugtrade.Theseconflictsofgangsand
cartelswouldsubsidebecausethegovernmentwouldoverseeallproduction.Also,law
enforcementwouldbeabletofocusonlargerpressingcrimesratherthansmalldrugpossessions.
Thiswoulddecreaseprisonovercrowdingandsavetaxpayersmoremoney.Thegovernment
wouldhavecompleteenforcementovertheproductionanduseofdrugs.Alongwiththat,users
wouldbeallowedhelpforaddictionandtosafelyusethesubstances.Druglegalizationwould
overallbenefittheUnitedStateseconomy,thesafetyofeachstate,andminimizeprison
overcrowding.

AlyssaPorter6

WorkCited

Boaz,David."DrugLegalization,Criminalization,andHarmReduction."
CatoInstitute
.Cato
Institute,16June1999.Web.16Oct.2015.

Gieringer,Dale."NORML.orgWorkingtoReformMarijuanaLaws."
RevenuesFrom
Legalization
.NORML,n.d.Web.24Sept.2015.

"MarijuanaLegalization:ProsandCons."
DrugRehab
.DrugRehab,24Nov.2012.Web.22
Oct.2015.

"NORML.orgWorkingtoReformMarijuanaLaws."
MarijuanaDecriminalizationTalking
Points
.NORML,n.d.Web.18Oct.2015.

"ShouldIllegalDrugsBeLegalized?ACLUPros&ConsProCon.org."
ProConorgHeadlines
.
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion,25May2005.Web.24Sept.2015.

"TwoPositiveConsequencesFollowingColorado'sLegalizationofMarijuana:HighProfitsand
LowCrimeRatesPagan&Stroleny,P.L."
PaganStrolenyPL
.Pagan&Stroleny,07July2014.
Web.24Sept.2015.

"ViolenceDecreasing,butDrugUseRemainsHigh."
USAToday
Dec.1999:27.Print.