Legalize Marijuana?

My initial reaction to the legalization of drugs was short and simple: NO! However, through careful research and better knowledge of the illegal drug trade, I am somewhat in favor of legalizing at least a few drugs. Perhaps the legalization and taxing of marijuana, an already widely used illegal drug, could help solve our economic crisis. The government is currently pouring tax payers' money into catching those who sell illegal drugs, prosecuting them, and placing them in jail. Let's face it, legalizing drugs is not going to encourage drug use. In fact, it may do just the opposite. Drugs lords only get involved with the drug trade because they can make around $5 billion annually, so legalizing and taxing drugs that are currently in the black market of the drug trade would cause the profit of illegal drug trading to go way down. Ultimately, this would encourage many people to stay out of the drug trade, as they are not tempted by the enourmous profits in the first place. However, even if drugs like marijuana are legalized, the government can still regulate them, which, in the end, would be profitable to our economy. Not to mention the gang violence on the Mexico-America border. The illegal drug trade has caused countless acts of violence in this particular region and many have been killed. Legalizing certain drugs would put a halt to such violence on the Mexico-America border. While there are probably no health benefits to legalizing drugs, there are certainley economic and safety benefits. Drugs like marijuana are already widely used, and legalization of such drugs would most likely not change how many people use them. Society would mostly remain the same if certain drugs were legalized. Marijuana is already legal in a few states anyways. One must ask the question, do the economic benefits outweigh the potential problems caused by certain drugs? I'm not sure; I'm kind of on the fence with this one, but if somebody wants to use drugs, does it really matter to you? Just because drugs are legalized doesn't mean you must use them. I for one would not smoke marijuana simply because it's legal. As long as people are educated on the effects of certain drugs, there is really no point in keeping them illegal; those who are well-educated should be able to make the right decision. Let the stupid people fuel our economy! Hoorah!


I kind of got a little bit loopy towards the end. Whatever.