From the other side of the Marijuana Issue

I understand this is pretty well-worn territory, however, it seems we never hear about this side of the marijuana argument. By no means do I take a side on this topic. It doesn’t particularly bother me in the least. I don’t condone the act of smoking it, and I don’t do it myself; however, I feel as if some things need to be said about the whole issue, and it doesn’t seem like enough college students speak up about how they feel if they are against it. For one, it would be regulated, and then the question of how it would be enforced is another issue. Possibly the biggest argument for it would be that the economy would be given a boost, but that may not be so true as what it seems. While, we may be sick of hearing about the topic, the other side never seems to get discussed, and that is what this entry will try to address.
First off, if marijuana is given the chance to become legal, it’s not going to be in the sense that everyone thinks. We have to define legal, and as much as I disagree with some of the things the government does, I don’t think they are ridiculous enough to just say, okay, we’re no longer enforcing laws against marijuana, go smoke! Further more, if they do choose to make it legal, it’s going to be a gradual process. It’ll start out as medicinal everywhere. If it even gets past that point, there will still be stipulations against it. There will be certain people that are able to get it. The regulation won’t stop there.
There are other parts of the whole issue that have to be regulated. These are the ingredients in the product and permits to sell it. The product that the dealers (if that’s even what they’ll be called) will be selling won’t be as potent as what we see now. It will have a tax on it, which means a middle man. The whole reason it’s so expensive now is because there is no middle man, and there is no regulation. What’s more, is the whole fair practice issue, which means the price will most likely be set by the stock market prices, seeing as how the government would be involved with this industry’s regulation. The regulation of it could go on, but I’ll leave it at this for now and discuss enforcement.
This is an overlooked topic when it comes to the big picture. It’s hard enough to enforce underage drinking these days, so the thought of adding another crime to enforce makes it nearly impossible, and we’re right back to being illegal. Not to mention, we have to look at what we are going to enforce. The obvious is that we don’t want to put any more danger on the roads that’s already there, and I really don’t want to drive on a road with a half-baked driver coming my way. It seems like the only way to enforce a driving under the influence would be to have a limit of the amount in your system, and that can be deceiving seeing as how THC can stay in your system for 3 to 90 days depending on potency and frequency of use. The other complication when testing this is the ability to quickly test it. The only way to get a reading is to do a blood test. By the time the blood tests come back, the offender could be long gone. Then, what if someone is found innocent? Lawsuit anyone? How many police officers are going to want to mess with that?
With these lawsuits that an innocent person may want to file, there will be money coming out of the state’s pocket. Then, the extra training and equipment to enforce the law comes into play. Police officers are not just implanted with these abilities. Of course, we really get into the issue from here. The argument is that marijuana will boost the economy. People look at the cost of marijuana and say wow think if there was tax on that! Lets really break it down though. Once it’s legalized, greenhouses aren’t going to say, “well, it’s legal, but we haven’t been growing it, so we better leave it alone.” What’s going to happen is it will get manufactured on a mass produced scale? When you really think about why the cost of marijuana is so high (no pun intended), it’s because no regulation on price and because it is illegal, the demand by those who want it is much higher. In essence without it even being involved in the economy yet, it’s still under the law of supply and demand. After mass production, the drug will go down in price dramatically. It’s not as if it’s difficult to grow. It grows on the sides of roads and was once used as rope when we had a shortage of the traditional materials. With only a small portion our population using the drug on a regular basis, the fact that it would be a booming industry is not necessarily true. If we could keep the price increased, then it may be a decent sized industry, however, once the cost starts to slip after production begins, and we begin to import better stuff (which is inevitable with the United States), the profit will not be as big. Then, we factor in the cost of training police officers, and depending on whether the training and supplies cost enough, layoffs happen. Initially, jobs will be created to manufacture it, but once the cost to profit ratio becomes too high, jobs will inevitably be lost.
I’m not saying I’m against legalizing it totally, but we need to think about these things. Regulation and enforcement are not the easiest accomplishments, and the economy issue, when looked at in a deeper, closer manner, is not actually a benefit. Initially it may be, but job loss is inevitable when we want better product. This isn’t an outcry against marijuana, nor is it a request to keep it out of circulation. It’s simply the other side of a well worn issue, meant to ask questions. Questions we can ponder on our own, and give a voice to the unheard other side.