The War on Pot: America's $42 Billion Annual Boondoggle

[one...two...tree 2,762]

What would you buy if you had an extra $42 billion to spend every year? What might our government buy if it suddenly had that much money dropped onto its lap every year?

For one thing, it might pay for the entire $7 billion annual increase in the State Children's Health Insurance Program that President Bush is threatening to veto because of its cost -- and there'd still be $35 billion left over.

Or perhaps you'd hire 880,000 schoolteachers at the average U.S. teacher salary of $47,602 per year.

Or give every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise (at a cost of $15 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers) and use what's left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit.

Or use all $42 billion for a massive tax cut that would put an extra $140 in the pockets of every person in the country -- $560 for a family of four.

The mind reels at the ways such a massive sum of money could be put to use.

Why $42 billion? Because that's what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year, according to a new study by researcher Jon Gettman, Ph.D. -- $10.7 billion in direct law enforcement costs, and $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues. And that may be an underestimate, at least on the law enforcement side, since Gettman made his calculations before the FBI released its latest arrest statistics in late September. The new FBI stats show an all-time record 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006, 43,000 more than in 2005.

That's like arresting every man, woman and child in the state of North Dakota plus every man, woman, and child in Des Moines, Iowa on marijuana charges ... every year. Arrests for marijuana possession -- not sales or trafficking, just possession -- totaled 738,916. By comparison, there were 611,523 arrests last year for all violent crimes combined.

Basing his calculations mainly on U.S. government statistics, Gettman concludes that marijuana in the U.S. is a $113 billion dollar business. That's a huge chunk of economic activity that is unregulated and untaxed because it's almost entirely off the books.

Of course, the cost of our marijuana laws goes far beyond lost tax revenues and money spent on law enforcement. By consigning a very popular product -- one that's been used by about 100 million Americans, according to government surveys -- to the criminal underground, we've effectively cut legitimate businesspeople out of the market and handed a monopoly to criminals and gangs.

Strangely, government officials love to warn us that some unsavory characters profit off of marijuana sales, while ignoring the obvious: Our prohibitionist laws handed them the marijuana business in the first place, effectively giving marijuana dealers a $113 billion free ride.

All this might make some sense if marijuana were so terribly dangerous that it needed to be banned at all costs, but science long ago came to precisely the opposite conclusion. Compared to alcohol, for example, marijuana is astonishingly safe. For one thing, marijuana is much less addictive than alcohol, with just nine percent of users becoming dependent, as opposed to 15 percent for booze. And marijuana is much less toxic. Heavy drinking is well-documented to damage the brain and liver, and to increase the risk of many types of cancer. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused a medically documented overdose death, and scientists are still debating whether even heavy marijuana use causes any permanent harm at all. And then there's violence. Again, the scientific findings are overwhelming: Booze incites violence and aggression; marijuana doesn't.

Despite all that, we now arrest one American every 38 seconds on marijuana charges. And we do so at a staggering cost in law enforcement expenses, lost tax revenues, and staggering profits for criminal gangs.

The alternative is clear: Regulate marijuana just as we do beer, wine, and liquor. The only thing lacking is the political will.

Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, DC.

[Jenn! 918]

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

sure, let's lower the bar....increase speed limits too. legalize bank robbing. that way no one will be in trouble

[almaty 19]

The alternative is clear: Regulate marijuana just as we do beer, wine, and liquor. The only thing lacking is the political will.

as someone who has worked in the field for more years than i care to admit....i agree...it is a waste of resorces and allot of people smoke it...

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I'm for the decriminalization of it but it's the illegal cash flow from the drug business that the banks need to keep this country from going into recession. This cash flow is liquid.

Here is a link that helps describe what I am talking about.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8797525979024486145

It's tedious to watch but the detail is through (sp?). Don't mind the political context of the title. You can watch the first hour without even touching the topic of the title for this film and get the point about the drug cash flow in the USA.

[Caladan 19]

It's bizarre that marijuana is illegal while alcohol is legal.

[almaty 19]

there is no sense in it except etoh corps. wants it illegal

[one...two...tree 2,762]

sure, let's lower the bar....increase speed limits too. legalize bank robbing. that way no one will be in trouble

Can you give any logical reasons why we should keep Marijuana illegal when it's comparable to alcohol?

[pedroh 21]

legalizing weed is not the same as legalizing bank robberies and such..

and yea, a lot of crime and corruption would end if they de-penalize it

where da coffee shops please?!

[sara535 15]

Ive had this conversation many times with various people.

Pot is the number one cash ####### in several states, untaxed and unregulated. Peter Jennings did an hour long special about it a few years ago that was very fascinating.

But to me the real point is, I have yet to see a news article or clipping where someone got stoned and then drove across the median into oncoming traffic and killed a family of four, which seems to happen regularly with alcohol. to name just one of the ugly ugly possible consequences of drinking too much. what happens if someone smokes too much grass? they accidentally eat a whole box of oreo cakesters and a huge order of chili cheese fries?

[almaty 19]

legalizing weed is not the same as legalizing bank robberies and such..

and yea, a lot of crime and corruption would end if they de-penalize it

where da coffee shops please?!

lol... they would be popular .....................hmmmmmmmmm...dean's coffee and sweet lucy emporium

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ive had this conversation many times with various people.

Pot is the number one cash ####### in several states, untaxed and unregulated. Peter Jennings did an hour long special about it a few years ago that was very fascinating.

But to me the real point is, I have yet to see a news article or clipping where someone got stoned and then drove across the median into oncoming traffic and killed a family of four, which seems to happen regularly with alcohol. to name just one of the ugly ugly possible consequences of drinking too much. what happens if someone smokes too much grass? they accidentally eat a whole box of oreo cakesters and a huge order of chili cheese fries?

[GaryC 7]

I think pot should be legal. I know a lot of people that have ruined their lives and the lives of others with alcohol but I can honestly say I don't know anyone who has hurt someone else from smoking pot. About the worst things I can say about pot is it tends to make some people lazy and fat but that isn't a good enough reason to spend 42 billion to fight it.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I think pot should be legal. I know a lot of people that have ruined their lives and the lives of others with alcohol but I can honestly say I don't know anyone who has hurt someone else from smoking pot. About the worst things I can say about pot is it tends to make some people lazy and fat but that isn't a good enough reason to spend 42 billion to fight it.

Hooray! Gary and I agree! Let's all drink beer...or get high.

[GaryC 7]

I think pot should be legal. I know a lot of people that have ruined their lives and the lives of others with alcohol but I can honestly say I don't know anyone who has hurt someone else from smoking pot. About the worst things I can say about pot is it tends to make some people lazy and fat but that isn't a good enough reason to spend 42 billion to fight it.

Hooray! Gary and I agree! Let's all drink beer...or get high.

I will drink a beer with you any day Steven. The get high part though is best left to my youth.