Pubdate: Mon, 30 Mar 2009
Source: Daily Vidette (IL Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Daily Vidette
Contact:  http://www.dailyvidette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/666
Author: Chris Davies, Daily Vidette Senior Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION TO HELP ECONOMY

The image that most people recall when discussing marijuana may be
something from a Cheech and Chong movie, or perhaps a picture of Bob
Marley. However, in these uncertain economic times, the prospect of
legalization of the drug has many people rethinking their stance on
the issue.

Reform of marijuana laws has been most widely publicized in the state
of California, which recently legalized medical marijuana. Most
recently, though, bills have been introduced in the Massachusetts and
Minnesota state legislatures, respectively, to legalize the substance.

Pete Guither, assistant to the Dean in the College of Fine Arts and
faculty advisor for the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, believes
that the introduction of such legislation is overdue.

"[Legalization's] time has come," he said. "This is about economics
and safety, it's not about people getting high. They can do that now."

He explained that marijuana is the biggest cash crop in the world, but
instead of governments benefitting from the sale of the crop, the
money is going to criminals. Should marijuana be legalized, the
government could regulate the sale of the drug and impose taxes upon
it.

"Beyond the benefits of taxing marijuana, think of all the money that
could be saved on enforcement, prisons and litigation for crimes
related to marijuana," Guither said.

Michael Brun, professor of economics, is skeptical of the benefits
that could arise from the legalization of marijuana.

"In the short-term it could help the economy because it would be
another taxable business, but long-term it could be harmful depending
on how it affects the body and what health care costs arise from
that," he said.

Brun added that his expertise was not in healthcare, so he was unsure
what kinds of health problems could arise from smoking cannabis.
Guither asserted that there were no known health effects that come
from marijuana use.

"The drug has been proven not to cause cancer or any other negative
health effects over years of use," he said. "There is nothing that
shows that people will dramatically overuse the drug."

"Look at the Netherlands for an example; there it is practically legal
for an adult to buy marijuana and they have not had any issues."

Both Brun and Guither did agree that there are potential problems that
could come from mismanagement of legalization. Brun specifically noted
the problems that could arise from falling prices.

"If [marijuana] is legalized, the price could fall and the hopes for
tax money would decline," he said. "The only savings, then, could be
in law enforcement."

Guither, rather, focused on how over-taxation could cause current
problems to resurface.

"If you increase taxes too much, then people will turn to the Black
Market again," he said. "But if the price is kept reasonable, most
people will prefer to buy marijuana legally rather than from a criminal."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin