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The most significant issue now challenging the criminal justice system is the need to reformantiquated state and federal drug laws. Specifically, those that criminalize possession and sale of

marijuana. This issue is more prominent than others as these laws (1) overburden law

enforcement and judicial resources, (2) overwhelm our penal system, and (3) fail to recognize

the enormous economic benefits that will result with decriminalization. This issue is much like

the conundrum Americans faced in the 1920s with the prohibition of alcohol use. Advocates of

prohibition argued that alcohol misuse results in ill health effects and a variety of societal "evils"

(DUIs, public drunkenness, underage use). However, the health effects on limited use were

never established (with some studies suggesting benefits with moderate consumption of red

wine or light beer), and the social evils of alcohol consumption could be better controlled with

appropriate state or federal laws. The legislature balanced these purported negatives with an

individual's right to consume alcohol and a state's right to control distribution. However, change

came about because the economic benefits were enormous. Laws regulating alcohol

consumption and sale provided a steady source of revenue for the states, and the regulated

industry that provided jobs and tax revenue. The social changes were also many as there was

less of a burden on the penal system that did not arrest, prosecute and jail moderate consumers

of alcohol (cite needed). II EVIDENCE SUPPORTING ASSERTIONS The US economy will

immediately benefit from a federal law decriminalizing marijuana laws. 500 economists applied

the usage statistics of alcohol and tobacco to Marijuana, and determined that if Marijuana was

taxed like alcohol and tobacco, the country would see an income of a minimum of $6.2b. Add to

that the amount saved in not prosecuting offenders, $7.7b, as estimated by Harvard Economics

professor, Jeffrey Miron, and we have a $13b, swing in our economy. In addition, those working

in the Marijuana industry will also pay income tax, which also goes to the government, and was

not included in the estimations. Likewise, the human resources (judicial, penal, law

enforcement) that society commits to enforcing these laws are enormous (MPP). According to

the Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to reform of Marijuana laws

estimates that approximately 700,000 people each year are arrested from violations Marijuana

alone (NORML). With the number of prisoners in 2005 being approximately 1.5m (PDF), 700,000

people arrested seems substantial. While not all of those offenders go to jail, in 2005, there

were slightly over 20,000 offenders incarcerated for Marijuana (Whitehouse Drug Policy).

However, each of those 700,000 persons arrested now have a criminal record that will shadow

them. Each of those 700,000 persons has to go through the justice system, clogging it up with

unnecessary and frivolous lawsuits. Under contemporarily prudent legislature, Marijuana could

be successfully added to the list of controlled, but publicly available intoxicants. III. RESOLUTION

This issue can be successfully resolved through comprehensive regulation, although political

opposition will be keen. Perhaps the best approach is staging. First, congress should approve the

medicinal use of medical marijuana. This action can be followed by prohibition-like reforms

tailored after the laws in place in Amsterdam. Legalization will also reduce crime substantially in

the USA because it removes a whole black market worth of crime. Unfortunately many activists

claim they want decriminalization rather than legalization, under the auspices that it is a good

compromise. However, this just skirts around the problem, and makes it potentially worse; with

decriminalization, Marijuana would still be illegal, but permissible in small quantities. Ergo, a

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black market still exists, and negates the whole purpose of legalization. However, after

legalization the DEA can focus on those criminals who are ruining society by having Meth-lab's in

rural areas that blow up and kill innocent children. The DEA can focus on criminals like Britt and

Garrett Reid, who drive while intoxicated on Heroin, carry guns, and engage in risky, violent, and

illegal behavior. In conclusion, Barry Cooper, ex Narcotics Interdiction officer, and DEA certified

agent trainer, admits that 100% of the time, he would rather pull someone over who had been

smoking Marijuana, than someone who had been drinking, in his video Never Get Busted

Again(NGB). He continues, debunking the deceitful preaching's of current police officers. Think

about it, if an organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (specifically Marijuana)

exists, might it be time to re-think our current laws if a substantial portion of those enforcing

the laws think they should be changed?

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/marijuana/index.html