Article Rebuttal
Legalization of Marijuana Can Strengthen the Economy
BCOM/275 Business Communications and Critical Thinking
Legalization of Marijuana Can Strengthen the Economy
Even though the government can 't regulate everyone growing it, legalizing marijuana will bring in an abundance of revenue to the United States because billions of dollars are spent on seizures of crops as well as the prosecution of offenders.
The legalization of marijuana can help reduce the $16.4 trillion deficit in the United States because it can bring in an abundance of taxable revenue. According to, “Miron, Jeffey A., and Waldock, Katherine, "The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition," The Cato Institute (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2010), “drug legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco. Approximately $8.7 billion of this revenue would result from legalization of marijuana and $38.0 billion from legalization of other drugs." (Para 5). In 2011, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Department seized $42,113,659 million dollars worth of assets in their fight against Marijuana. With this revenue the government could fund educational programs or help pay down the national debt.
Colorado, California, and Maine are the only states who have collected sales tax on medicinal marijuana. Recent estimates place the states marijuana sales tax revenue between 58.0 million and 105.0 million dollars. The Colorado Center on Law & Policy estimated that legalization would yield $60 million in state and local revenue and savings by 2017, and perhaps double thereafter.
The government is spending billions of dollars each year on drug control which could be better used to enhance the lives of Americans. The FBI calculates that marijuana arrests cost taxpayers more than $10 billion annually. Possession of over 2.5 kg with no criminal record carries
BCOM/275 Business Communications and Critical Thinking
Legalization of Marijuana Can Strengthen the Economy
Even though the government can 't regulate everyone growing it, legalizing marijuana will bring in an abundance of revenue to the United States because billions of dollars are spent on seizures of crops as well as the prosecution of offenders.
The legalization of marijuana can help reduce the $16.4 trillion deficit in the United States because it can bring in an abundance of taxable revenue. According to, “Miron, Jeffey A., and Waldock, Katherine, "The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition," The Cato Institute (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2010), “drug legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco. Approximately $8.7 billion of this revenue would result from legalization of marijuana and $38.0 billion from legalization of other drugs." (Para 5). In 2011, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Department seized $42,113,659 million dollars worth of assets in their fight against Marijuana. With this revenue the government could fund educational programs or help pay down the national debt.
Colorado, California, and Maine are the only states who have collected sales tax on medicinal marijuana. Recent estimates place the states marijuana sales tax revenue between 58.0 million and 105.0 million dollars. The Colorado Center on Law & Policy estimated that legalization would yield $60 million in state and local revenue and savings by 2017, and perhaps double thereafter.
The government is spending billions of dollars each year on drug control which could be better used to enhance the lives of Americans. The FBI calculates that marijuana arrests cost taxpayers more than $10 billion annually. Possession of over 2.5 kg with no criminal record carries
References: Miron, J. A., and Waldock, K., "The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition," The Cato Institute (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2010). Opendoors, "The Criminal Justice Costs of Marijuana Prohibition in Rhode Island," (Providence, RI: March 2010), p. 1.