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Marijuana, Good or Bad for the Economy. You Decide.

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Marijuana, Good or Bad for the Economy. You decide.

When some people think of marijuana, they think of the hippie guy and girl with the tight bellbottom jeans, the scarf tied around their forehead, the purple round sunglasses and holding up a piece sign while driving the VW van with the Grateful Dead stickers on the windows. Some think of marijuana as a relief to the pain and discomfort they are experiencing, others just like the effect of slowing down the animosity of life and relaxing. However, if we look at the big picture we can see that marijuana being legal could help the economy, be medically beneficial, is safer than alcohol, and it would help all walks of life in one way or another.
The legalization of marijuana could be very economically beneficial according to a study done by an economics professor at Harvard University named Jeffery Miron. Professor Miron says the government would save about $7.7 billion a year by the policing and prosecution being cut if marijuana was legalized in the U.S. The study also states that if the taxing of tobacco and alcohol was similarly used on marijuana, another $6.2 billion would be attained.
In 2008 another study was done. In Texas $46.1 million was spent by state prisons only supervising marijuana prosecuted inmates. In California marijuana enforcement was estimated to be over $146 million. Some prisons now are facing overcrowding. Think of the amount of money that would be saved and some of the space that would be freed up in the Department of Corrections facilities.
With the savings from the policing and prosecution being diminished and the money gained from the taxing, the money would go to the states. The following is a projected breakdown of marijuana tax revenue Professor Miron came up with based on today’s economy.
Projected marijuana tax revenues*
State Tax Revenue
(in millions)

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