more power to increase substance abuse than any enforcement program could possibly do to constrain that usage. Roe said to, “Look at the fact that a relatively low budget public education campaign has resulted in a significant decline in the U.S. consumption of alcohol and tobacco during a period when a costly and intensive campaign to curtail illegal drugs only resulted in their increased usage.” Scrap the nonsense of trying to obliterate drugs and acknowledge their presence in our society as we have with alcohol and tobacco. Legalization would result in purity assurance under FDA regulation, labeled concentration of the product (to avoid overdose), obliteration of vigorous marketing (pushers), savings in expensive enforcement, and significant tax revenues. Efforts and funds can then be directed to educating the public on the hazards of all drugs (110-111). Legalization would save our government mass amounts of money. In the U.S., all levels of government now participate in the war on drugs. Society currently spends billion every year to hunt down fairly peaceful citizens who just happen to enjoy getting high. These people are locked up in prison and taxpayers must foot the bill. If marijuana were legal, the government would be able to collect taxes on it, and would have much more money to pay for effective drug education programs and other important causes, such as education, children, and healthcare. There would be much more money to spend on important issues if marijuana were legal. In the past thirty years, over 10 million people have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the U.S.; most of them were for possession and use. In 1996 there were 641,600 marijuana arrests in America. 85% were for possession, more than in any previous year (Glasser 133). Those were real people who were paying taxes, supporting their families, and working hard to make a better life for their children. Suddenly, they are arrest...
