mike! Brandes

I don’t use marijuana currently, nor will I ever use it again, and I understand that it has damaging effects almost as great as alcohol but….

17.7 Billion Dollars were spent on the War on Drugs in the Fiscal Year 2000, that is an alarmingly high number. There are also some very disturbing statistics on there from an potential revenue as well. It costs 22,000+ to incarcerate one prisoner for one year.

With a going rate of marijuana at around 10.41 per gram, it would make good economic sense to decriminalize it, tax it, and reap the benefits. I’m not advocating pure and total unrestrained use of it. I would propose the same restriction to be placed on it that alcohol has. Must be 21 years or older to use it,  it would be illegal to consume it away from properly licensed places, or in the comfort of one’s one home.  Would be illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of the substance.

As far as generating revenue, its a no-brainer. Tax the grass, and people are still going to buy it, heck its ILLEGAL and people still buy it. Take the money that is generated from the tax on it and lower everybody’s federal income taxes. This seems like a great way to benefit America, reducing the amount of money the governement is spending to incarcerate people who use and sell this substance, and in turn taxing the substance, and regulating its use. It combines two of my favorite phrases of political jargon, go green, and economic stimulus plan.
Work it out America, make it happen,

I’m tired of paying high taxes.