Pros and Cons of Using Weed for Recreational Purposes
A pro of legalizing marijuana, that is great, are helping keep drug dealers off the streets. What I call corruption of the streets. It would keep many of people out of jail and it would also be an effective step in curbing drug related violence.
According to Caulkins, (Sullum), “Tens of thousands of marijuana distributors are in prison”. Drug dealers are a major problem in today’s society. If marijuana were to be legalized it would take illegal drug dealers off the streets and into things more productive in life. This could better our communities, which would also keep them as well as young teenagers out of jail.
Amongst those tens of thousands, there are “hundreds of thousands of people [that] are arrested and convicted of marijuana violations each year…” Marijuana being legalized would not only keep jails from being overcrowded, it would keep police officers more involved in serious crimes rather than focusing on petty crimes. Marijuana hasn’t been known to be addictive or lead to violent crimes. Police officers could crack down on harsher drugs.
Although legalizing marijuana would be an effective step toward changing drug related violence is a pro it is also a con; a pro because it “prevents people from shackling of criminal records for simply possessing marijuana and also allows the criminal justice system to focus more of its limited resources on stopping and solving violent crimes”, Neil Franklin. However this is a con, because it does nothing to solve underground drug trade violence.
In my opinion another con of legalizing marijuana is that it would take away money and/or financial stability away from, mainly, urban low income families and men with felonies in this economy. Most low income families become marijuana distributors to provide for their families. If the government legalized weed, they would lose their income to someone who doesn’t need the money as much as he does just for the revenue the government would make. There are both pros
According to Caulkins, (Sullum), “Tens of thousands of marijuana distributors are in prison”. Drug dealers are a major problem in today’s society. If marijuana were to be legalized it would take illegal drug dealers off the streets and into things more productive in life. This could better our communities, which would also keep them as well as young teenagers out of jail.
Amongst those tens of thousands, there are “hundreds of thousands of people [that] are arrested and convicted of marijuana violations each year…” Marijuana being legalized would not only keep jails from being overcrowded, it would keep police officers more involved in serious crimes rather than focusing on petty crimes. Marijuana hasn’t been known to be addictive or lead to violent crimes. Police officers could crack down on harsher drugs.
Although legalizing marijuana would be an effective step toward changing drug related violence is a pro it is also a con; a pro because it “prevents people from shackling of criminal records for simply possessing marijuana and also allows the criminal justice system to focus more of its limited resources on stopping and solving violent crimes”, Neil Franklin. However this is a con, because it does nothing to solve underground drug trade violence.
In my opinion another con of legalizing marijuana is that it would take away money and/or financial stability away from, mainly, urban low income families and men with felonies in this economy. Most low income families become marijuana distributors to provide for their families. If the government legalized weed, they would lose their income to someone who doesn’t need the money as much as he does just for the revenue the government would make. There are both pros
Cited: Sarachan, Sydney. "Legalizing Marijuana." PBS. PBS, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 June 2013 Sullum, J. (2013). The War Over Weed. Reason, 44(8), 60-64.