How would you like to have open spaces in prison for people who commit serious crimes? Wouldn’t it be nice for the state government to make some money to put in the dwindling budgets for education? The answer is legalizing marijuana.

  America would be majorly impacted if marijuana was legalized. According to the legal website Avvo, legalizing marijuana would lead to: a decrease in arrests and street violence and more open space in prison for violent offenders (avvo.com).  It’s awful that the government spends more money on prisons than they do on schools. People shouldn’t be in prison for marijuana; smoking or growing marijuana is no reason to throw someone in prison or jail.

  Legalizing marijuana would create more jobs and more economic opportunities. Marijuana has been legal in Colorado for a little over two years now and it has helped the economy exponentially. Ever since they legalized marijuana on January 1, 2014, the state has had an increase in tax revenue and economic output from retail sales and an increase in jobs (drugpolicy.org). The New York Times reported, “Colorado collected almost $70 million in marijuana taxes during that time, nearly double the $42 million collected from alcohol taxes” (nytimes.com). Junior Liam Maxwell stated, “I think it would be a huge benefit to our nation, because these gangs and cartels are turning into multi-million dollar companies whereas if we legalize it then our government will be taxing it and then our country is the one benefiting.”  

  In addition to the economic benefits, marijuana has been seen to have far fewer side effects than other substances, such as alcohol.  According to the CDC’s website, “Drinking too much can harm your health. Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year in the United States from 2006 – 2010, shortening the lives of those who died by an average of 30 years” (cdc.gov). According to The Atlantic, “In large amounts, alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana” (theatlantic.com).  Why is marijuana illegal while alcohol is legal? It just doesn’t make sense.

  However, many people see marjana as causing more harm than good. One example is when a person drives under the influence. Driving under the influence of any substance that alters a person’s mind is dangerous, but driving under the influence of alcohol is far more dangerous than driving under the influence of marijuana, according to CBS News (cbsnews.com). According to CBS, “If a driver is under the influence of alcohol, their risk of a fatal crash is 13 times higher than the risk of the driver who is not under the influence of marijuana” (cbslocal.com). If alcohol causes more accidents than marijuana, then why is alcohol legal, but marijuana isn’t.

  If  alcohol can be seen as harmless enough to be legal, than marijuana should also be legal. Alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana and this country would benefit if marijuana was legalized. There would be more room in prison for criminals who commit serious crimes and if one state collects 70 million dollars from marijuana taxes, imagine how much the country would make from marijuana taxes! So let’s let our inner Coloradan blaze freely and let’s stop getting high on life and lets start getting high on legalization.