Legalize it.
Seriously, The entire economic situation that America has drowned itself in could be fixed within a week after legalizing marijuana. First of all, any and all non-violent drug offenders, any inmates that are in prisons and jails for marijuana charges are pardoned of those charges. Anyone who got pulled over with 2 pounds of pot in the back of their car gets pardoned and the price of housing on inmate for 5-7 years is suddenly relieved. Second of all, you require that dealers and suppliers get government administered courses on drug safety and preparation, as well as liscences to distribute marijuana. That brings in more revenue that doesn’t cost anything than enacting the legislation. Finally, all of a sudden new businesses are popping up, paying lawyers for setting up business, state fees for running business, the taxes on the bud that you sell, contracting jobs for building stores, depending on the store the investigation fees for food grades. Even after all of that, we still haven’t considered the income of stoners running around who don’t want to wait for sketch dealers who leave with your money to get the pot for you. At $60 for an eighth of an ounce of the kind of marijuana that stores would sell, you tax it, you tax the paraphenillia that the pot is smoked out of and other various pot delicacies. You create jobs for Growers, Suppliers, Dealers, Store Owners, The possibilities for revenue on marijuana alone is incredible and worthy of the nation’s attention. But it’s just not only marijuana, you see an increase in grocery sales, a decrease in violent crime, an increase in Police availability, a decrease in hardcore drug users (statistics prove it in Amsterdam) The medicinal uses of marijuana are boundless. Chronic pain, Psoriasis, Glaucoma, Cancer Treatments, the list goes on and on. To me it seems simple. The ramifications of legalizing weed are nothing that we haven’t dealt with since the prohibition of alcohol in Colonial times. Driving while high, and public intoxication are things that the police already deal with. It seems so simple to me. 12% of American adults (18-24) admitted to using marijuana on a regular basis. That’s just the people who admitted it to a random individual who may have asked them on a street corner. There is probably a good chance that there are those who don’t distribute that kind of information when asked.
On another note. It’s been a long week. I had practice on Tuesday night, a concert on Wednesday night, and then I missed school today becuase I was just too tired. I have been working on an entirely different piece for a speech tournament on Saturday, and working on a duo for Saturday, I am excited to go to a tournament. I have been watching a lot more TV than I usually do. Normally I don’t watch the crap that they show on MTV, but somehow it’s strangely addicting. I will post more later.
Peace
