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War on drugs & money spent in prisons (FGCU Intro) - Matthew McCloud

The war on drugs continues to cost a significant amount of money for the state and federal government.   Since Marijuana was first federally prohibited in 1937, more than 97 million people have admitted to experimenting with the drug.  In 2009 alone, 1,593,106 people were arrested and sent to jail/prison for Drug-Law offenses.  These laws consist of possession of Marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and or being under the influence of Marijuana.  The United States federal government spent over 19 billion dollars in 2003 on the war on drugs, at a rate of about $600 per second. Since then, it has increased over a billion dollars, totaling at nearly 20 billion dollars in just one year.  Since December 31, 1995 the United States prison population increased 43,266 inmates per year and 25 percent were sentenced for Drug-Law violations.  While keeping these inmates in prison, 32 billion dollars came from taxpayers for the upkeep of prisons and prisoners across the United States.  Today, if an inmate spends just one year in prison, the cost equals at to be about $22,000.  An inmate that is sentenced to life in prison, the costs averages out to be nearly $1.5 million. Having all these figures in mind, I believe it would be much easier to just legalize Marijuana in the United States.  The statistics above clearly show how much money is spent on trying to prohibit the drug, but still doesn’t keep people from doing it.  Money being spent on keeping Marijuana illegal could definitely be spent on more important issues.  Joe Klien said, “We spend about $150 billion on policing and courts, and 47.5% of all drug arrests are marijuana-related. That is an awful lot of money that could be spent on better schools or infrastructure — or simply returned to the public” in his article about legalizing Marijuana in Time magazine.  He also states, “It is estimated that Marijuana is the largest cash crop in California, with annual revenues approaching $14 billion. A 10% Marijuana tax would yield $1.4 billion in California alone.”  I agree wholeheartedly with Klien’s views.  Imagine California receiving $14 billon/year for the growth and reselling of Marijuana.  Take that and multiply it by 50 (assuming every state legalized the drug) and think of the amount of income that would be brought into the government.  Wouldn’t it be smarter to have that kind of income rather than trying to keep it illegal which costs us billions of dollars?Sources:http://www.time.comhttp://www.drugsense.orghttp://www.heartsandminds.org

This entry was posted on 7. December 2009 at 22:38 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “War on drugs & money spent in prisons (FGCU Intro) - Matthew McCloud”

  1. Bill Harris says:
    20. December 2009 at 15:08

    One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under prosecution of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.

    The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. When Eve ate the apple, she knew a good apple, and an evil prohibition. Canadian Marc Emery is being extradited to prison for selling seeds that American farmers use to reduce U. S. demand for Mexican pot.

    Only on the authority of a clause about interstate commerce does the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Administration fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. Society rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.

    Nixon passed the CSA on the false assurance that the Schafer Commission would later justify criminalizing his enemies. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research, and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period. Drug juries exclude bleeding hearts.

    The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.

    Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.

    Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.

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