Today, between 40 percent and 50 percent of all drug arrests are for marijuana. The social costs of these policies restricting marijuana use attack the ethnic diversity that this country thrives upon. Approximately 33,000 people are arrested for marijuana-related crimes each month. Filling prison systems with hundreds of thousands of marijuana crimes each year is ineffective and is costing people an unnecessary loss of freedom. Marijuana legalization has also been linked to lower rates of opioid-related overdoses, harm, and death. The rates of opioid overdose have reduced by 25% since the legalization of medical marijuana. Opioid addiction is extremely powerful and using marijuana as a tool to break it helps many people throughout the country that suffer from this addiction. 

Marijuana also does not present the same dangers as other drugs. There are supported studies that identify damage to the gray and white brain matter from the use of alcohol, but not from marijuana. If the effects of marijuana are less harmful than those of alcohol, why is one a federal offense and one classified as a leisure activity?

Furthermore, the legalization of marijuana could also provide a significant tax revenue stream for the government. Colorado’s first two years of legalization contributed significant monetary tax revenue. With sales reaching almost $1 billion in 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in tax revenue and fees. A massive influx of revenue for local governments could create funds for use in community development and social programs such as; public schools, capital construction, and infrastructure. I believe that a national reconstruction of policy supporting the legalization of marijuana is appropriate and would provide many benefits to our country.