Legalization of Marijuana

A current issue with many stakeholders today, especially in California, isthe legalization of marijuana. There are many positives and negatives to the bill that allow people of the age 21 and older to use marijuana legally. The positives include reduced marijuana related crimes, police focusing on protecting the public/more serious crime, enjoying personal freedom, additional tax revenues, medical benefits, and the FDA could regulate safety of the drug. These postives bring about stakeholders suc as regular citzens who enjoy using marijuana for personal or medical reasons, state and national governments that benefit from taxation of the drug, people who have been imprisoned for use of the drug, and the police who will spend less time dealing with marijuana users. The negatives include marijuana being a gateway drug to much more detrimental drugs, stoned driving would dramatically increase, physical damage is done to the smoker, and bystanders will suffer from second hand smoke. These stakeholders include people who believe smoking marijuana is morally wrong, people who suffer from secon hand smoke, businesses with workers that get high and slack off, and drug dealers who will lose their business. As of now the voters for Prop 19 hold the power in whether or not the drug is legalized, however it is most likely that the federal government will challenge the bill if it is passed. Two stakeholders on the opposite sides of the issue are the government and the drug dealers. The drug dealers make a lving off selling their product, but with the legalization of marijuana there will be no need for their business. The government will benefit from the taxation of the drug which is predicted to bring in upwards of one billion dollars if legalized. So where one benefits from the legalization of the drug, the other suffers. However, they are both affected in a similar way receiving money for its sales. In cnclusion, I hope to show both the pros and cons of the legalization of marijuana nd how the important stakeholders are affected by the outcome.