BENEFITS TO LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

BRIEF HISTORY

• Consumed for at least 5000 yrs.

(Marijuana: The Facts)

• Spaniards Imported Cannabis to

Chile for its use as fiber.

• American production was

encouraged by the government in the

17th century for the production of

rope, clothing and paper.

WHY PROHIBITION?

• Early studies prematurely linked

Marijuana use with violence.

• 1931, 29 States Outlawed

• 1937, Marijuana Tax Act Passed

BENEFITS TO LEGALIZATION

• Medicinal

• Revenue

• Reduction in Prison Populations

MEDICINAL USES

• Pain Relief– Neuropathic

• Nausea

• Spasticity– Muscle Tightness

• Appetite Stimulant

• Seizures

MEDICINAL USES

Charlottes Web• A strain of Marijuana specifically

grown to treat epileptic seizures • Effectively reduced seizures by

50%

COUNTER CLAIM• Smoking causes cancer (cancerresearchuk.org)

– True

• Marijuana smoke contains 50 of the

same carcinogens as tobacco (cancerresearchuk.org)– True

• Similar relief from prescriptions

that mimic Marijuana

REBUTTAL

• Methods (ProCon.org)– Butter/Cooking Oil– Tinctures & Tonics– Vaporizer– Oil

• Carcinogens (Marijuana: The Facts)– Concentrations were lower by as

much as 73%

REBUTTAL CONT.

• Marinol (Joy)– Side effects

• Muscle Pain• Stomach Pain• Diarrhea• Vomiting • Nausea

TAX REVENUE

• COLORADO– $43 Million / 2015– ≈ $243 Million / 2017– ≈ $415 Million / 2019

• WASHINGTON– ≈ $51 Million / 2016 (CORTE)

• TEXAS– ≈$166 Milllion /First yr.

TAX REVENUE BY STATE

TAX REVENUE

REVENUE

LAND OF THE FREE?

• The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world (Flatow)

• In 2013 1.5 Million inmates (Flatow)

• More than half related to drug crimes (Flatow)

PRISON POPULATION

PRISON POPULATION

PRISON POPULATION

PRISON POPULATION

• Texas has the nation’s largest prison population (Evans)

• Houses 156,000 prisoners (Evans)

• Ranked #4 in prisoners per capita (Evans)

• Leader in marijuana possession arrests, 74,286 (Evans)

COST

• 1 arrest every 42 sec (Carter)

• Each marijuana arrest cost tax payer an estimated $10,000 (Carter)

• $1.38/h per tax payer

• $12,088.80/yr

PRISON POPULATION RELIEF

• Smarter Sentencing Act (H.R. 3382)– Reduce prison population– Reduced prison cost by $4 Billion

• ≈ $7.8 billion in savings (Flatow)

• Imagine what full blown legalization could do!

CALL TO ACTION!

– Think Progress

– Visit• http://txmjpolicy.org

– Email • info@txmjpolicy.org

– Call• 512-380-1409

AND REMEMBER…

Drunk drivers run stop signs. Stoners wait for them to turn

green.-Unknown-

CITATIONS• Corte, Rachel. “Legal Pot in Washington Bringing in Even

More Tax Revenue Than Predicted.” Huffingtonpost.com.

Huffington Post. 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• Joy, Janet. “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the

Science Base.” Institute of Medicine. Mar (1999):

1-170. Print.

• “Marijuana: The Facts.” drugpolicy.org. Drug Policy

Alliance. 25 July 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• “What Are the Non-smoked Ways to Use Marijuana

Medically?” ProCon.org. 2004. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• “Does smoking cannabis cause cancer?” CancerResearchUK.org.• 18 April 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• Flatow, Nicole. “The United States has the Largest Prison Population in

the World – and it’s Growing” thinkprogess.org. 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• Carter, Stephen. “More People Arrested for Marijuana Than Violent Crime” txcann.com.

17 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

• H.R. 3382, 113th Cong., 1-7 (2013) (enacted). Print.