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? Courtesy of: ?
? Minnesota Grassroots Party ?
? P.O. Box 8011 ?
? St. Paul, MN 55108 ?
? ?
? (612) 773-9683 ?
? (612) 822-3396 ?
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"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of
temperance. ...for it goes beyond the bounds of reason
in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by
legislation and makes a crime out of things that are
not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the
very principles upon which our government was founded"
-- Abraham Lincoln
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The Common Sense Series
a publication of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
on the matter of
M A R I J U A N A A N D T H E E C O N O M Y
Americans spend $30 billion on marijuana annually. This money feeds a
clandestine market which seriously *destabilizes the legitimate economy*.
Money diverted into the black market drains resources from the economy; it
is not available for investment, taxation, or to otherwise contribute to
the nation's economic health. This document explores the ceconomic impact
of legalizing marijuana on the legitimate economy.
THE SALE OF ILLEGAL MARIJUANA:
- has increased in value from $50 million in 1965 up to $30 billion
in 1985.
- has *cost us* over $1 billion annually to prosecute and jail
marijuana offenders
- has funded an international drug-smuggling consortium that costs us
over $4 billion annually to combat.
- has provided billions annually for traffickers to bribe and corrupt
government officials
- has added to the inflation rate of our American allies like Columbia
and Mexico, destabilized currency away from development and humanitarian
projects, and otherwise weakened their economies and increased their
dependence on American aid and financing.
- has funded a domestic black market which is currently hoarding billions
in cash from normal economic channels.
- has sent billions in cash overseas each year.
- has provided $18 billion annually for hard-working outlaw farmers in
America, which in turn has helped revitalize rural couties throughout
the country.
- has provided work, rhetoric, and large budgets for thousands of
government officials whose professional careers now depend on the
continued illegality of marijuana.
Law enforcement has not had a deterrent effect on marijuana use. The
laws against marijuana work as crude and effective price supports for
the black market.
THE CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA FOR PERSONAL USE:
- would INCREASE the gross national product by up to $30.3 billion.
- would INCREASE consumer spending by up to $25.5 billion.
- would INCREASE non-residential investment by up to $3.3 billion.
- would INCREASE residential investment by up to $1.5 billion.
- would generate up to $3.6 billion in personal income taxes.
- would generate up to $2.4 billion in Social Security taxes.
- would generate up to $.6 billion in corporate income taxes.
- would generate up to $1.5 billion in corporate profits.
- would create up to 816,000 jobs.
These figures are produced by using a standard macroeconomic model for
simulation based on the premise that legalizing personal cultivation of
marijuana would divert $30 billion now spent on marijuana in the U.S.
from the black market to the legitimate economy.
THE REGULATION AND TAXATION OF SALES OF LEGAL MARIJUANA:
- would provide American farmers with a cash crop worth over $10 billion,
providing more farm income than any other crop in the country except
corn and soybeans (as an illegal crop, inflated prices have made
marijuana an $18 billion crop, the most valuable in America).
- would provide local, state, and national government with law enforcement
savings of over $2 billion annually.
- would provide state, local, and national government with $10 to $15
billion in tax revenue from a marijuana sales tax.
A regulated market will deprive teenagers access to marijuana and other
drugs and thereby lessen the social and economic cost of drug abuse.
It would also deflate the black market, just as the end of prohibition
in the 1930's wiped out the profits of bootlegging alcohol. This would
eliminate many of the negative effects of illegal marijuana.
There are several arguments for legalizing marijuana detailed in other
documents in this series. Legalization does not mean society is giving
up its fight against drug abuse. The legalization option not only offers
hope from a problem solving perspective, but also makes good economic
sense.
N O R M L ' s V I E W
1. The prohibition of marijuana creates ecomomic problems that we
can no longer afford.
2. The prohibition of marijuana creates massive profits for organized
and unorganized criminals.
3. The prohibition of marijuana costs us billions of dollars each year
in law enforcement costs.
4. The prohibition of marijuana costs all levels of government billions
of dollars in annual tax revenue.
5. The prohibition of marijuana drains money away from the legitimate
economy and from our country.
W H A T D O Y O U T H I N K ?
NORML common sense series
2001 S Street, NW, Suite 640, Washington, D.C., 20009
(202) 483-5500
In Los Angeles
NORML
8749 Holloway Dr.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 652-8654
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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