$42 billion on marijuana policies
On Tuesday, a writer for AlterNet.com wrote an article on legalizing marijuana for the sake of using $42 billion dollars on other expenses in the United States.
In short, Rob Kampia proposed several different ways of spending the annual $42 billion used on marijuana. “$10.7 billion in direct law enforcement costs, and $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues,” according to alternet.com.
Kampia also wrote about the effects of marijuana, relative to alcohol effects.
… All this might make some sense if marijuana were so terribly dangerous that it needed to be banned at all costs, but science long ago came to precisely the opposite conclusion. Compared to alcohol, for example, marijuana is astonishingly safe. For one thing, marijuana is much less addictive than alcohol, with just nine percent of users becoming dependent, as opposed to 15 percent for booze. And marijuana is much less toxic. Heavy drinking is well-documented to damage the brain and liver, and to increase the risk of many types of cancer. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused a medically documented overdose death, and scientists are still debating whether even heavy marijuana use causes any permanent harm at all. And then there’s violence. Again, the scientific findings are overwhelming: Booze incites violence and aggression; marijuana doesn’t.
Every 38 seconds, one American is arrested on marijuana charges, according to alternet.com.
Rob Kampia is also a member of the Marijuana Policy Project. The MPP Web site can also track local marijuana policies and laws for the public’s convenience.
Quick Links:
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/64465/
http://www.mpp.org/site/c.glKZLeMQIsG/b.1086497/k.BF78/Home.htm
