Taxing the Grass Essay

Tax the Grass

”Prohibition… goes beyond the reason in that it attemps to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes… A prohibition law strikes a low at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” (Abraham Lincoln, 1840).

As we all know America is currently in an economic recession nearly as big as the depression in the 1930’s. Obama’s Stimulus package has yet to yield a positive impact and the nation is looking for alternatives to pull us out of the depression. Now only if there was an alternative... how about start a war? Those prove to be very profitable, American troops risk their lives, but at least they’re risking them for profit, right? Of course, starting another war isn’t a very good idea when you are already in two and dealing with a communist Korea, so I guess we’re back to square one. Only if there was something in America that can create huge revenue without putting American lives in danger…the answer is the legalization, regulation and taxation of Marijuana. Usually when people hear this proposal they just shrug it off and forget about it, the legalization of a Schedule 1 drug? That’s crazy talk…or is it?

The definition of a schedule 1 drug according to the Medical dictionary:

“A category of drugs not considered legitimate for medical use. Among the substances so classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency are mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide, heroin, and marijuana.” (Medical-dictionary.com)

Wait a second, Legitimate for medical use!? Proposition 215 passed in California and 13 other states allows the use of medical Marijuana to patients that need it. So wouldn’t that mean that state law contradicts federal law? Yes, that is exactly what it means, and that is crazy talk.

Who will benefit from the legalization of marijuana? A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron estimates revenues of $6.7 billion a year and $44.1 billion in law enforcement savings, so quite a few people would benefit.(Prohibitioncosts.org) Millions of tax payer money will no longer be wasted on an endless war on drugs. The money saved on taxing marijuana can be used to build new buildings, new roads, save jobs, create new jobs etc. the list goes on. Not only does it benefit people financially, but physically as well; studies have proved that medical Marijuana helps with nausea, depression, anxiety, insomnia and glaucoma, there are literally hundreds of medical benefits that marijuana can provide. New studies even suggest that Marijuana can prevent cancer, a team of researchers from several major universities found that people that smoke marijuana were 48% less likely to get head and neck cancer than those who don’t smoke.(alternet.org)

Medical Marijuana seems to be the ultimate universal medicine.

What about the evidence against marijuana, doesn’t it kill the brain? The scientists that conceived that study took gas masks and strapped them onto a group of monkeys, then, through the gas mask, pumped the monkeys full of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and smoke, giving the monkeys no time to breathe, effectively suffocating them. The first thing that happens when you suffocate is the loss of brain cells, so the monkeys didn’t lose brain cells from the marijuana, but rather from the restraining gas masks. Another controversy against marijuana is the “Gateway effect.” But the truth is by prohibiting marijuana it has created the “Gateway effect.” The only way to get marijuana is through drug dealers, drug dealers that try and make a profit off their customers any way they can, so they push and pressure their customers into buying new and harder drugs. By legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana we can effectively eliminate the “Gateway effect” and get drug dealers out of business and off the streets. “There is no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults.

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