Marijuana Has Always Been A Controversial Issue In Society

Marijuana has always been a controversial issue in society and even more so today as many states have legalized it or are in the works of legalizing it. There are strong opinions on both sides. On one side, many people are for legalization because they see the positives, less crime, emptier prisons, tax revenue, health benefits and more. While many people on the other side feel legalizing marijuana is the worst possible idea because they fear that marijuana is harmful and it is going to corrupt the youth. I believe that many Americans are ill-informed on what would actually happen if marijuana was legalized and they are just caught up on the stigma of marijuana. As children in school we were taught that marijuana is the â€Å"gateway drug† to†¦show more content†¦If the government realized how much money they could be making every year they would have legalized marijuana a long time ago, â€Å"marijuana legalization would also generate tax revenue of approximately $2 .4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods, and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco† (Miron, 2012). Americans can benefit from legalization even if they don’t smoke, with less drug dealers in prison the country’s tax dollars could go to supporting other projects since the prisons won’t cost so much to keep operating. With all the extra money, many things around the country could be improved. Schools would get a much-needed funding boost. More money could go into preserving our national parks, or the money could go into helping fix unnatural disasters such as Flint, Michigan. An extra 6.2 billion a year could greatly help those who are living in poverty. However, knowing the government they would most likely add all or almost all of that money into the defense budget. Currently the U.S. government spends 737 billion dollars a year on defense, it would take 30 billion a year to cure world hunger (The Cost to End World Hunger, 2016). There is a lot of good that could come out of the money but the government can’t be trusted to put the money where it needs to go. What would be best is if all the individualShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay On Medical Marijuana1167 Words   |  5 PagesWhen people hear the word marijuana, they often think of a gateway drug. Marijuana has been one of the top misunderstood â€Å"drug† there have been and will probably remain on being a misunderstood â€Å"drug†. Should marijuana be legalized? This has been a controversial question for a long time now. Marijuana should be legalized. 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