Michigan is the latest state in the country that is expected to go to the polls to decide on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Legalization of recreational marijuana began in 2012 within the states of Colorado and Washington and many other states have followed suit including California, Alaska, and Massachusetts. Debate on legalization of marijuana is divisive subject and stakeholders have varying position and opinions on the topic. All in all, Michigan should vote to legalize marijuana to reap the social and economic benefits of the legal trade.
Economic Benefits of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana
There are several economic benefits of legalizing recreational marijuana in Michigan. Foremost, legalizing marijuana will create a new source of revenue in the state. The production and sale of the recreational marijuana will be regulated by the law, thus businesses will be required to pay taxes ( Evans, 2013) . Michigan has a 6% sales tax on all commodities traded in the state and the same will be imposed on the marijuana businesses. Moreover, Michigan will earn more tax revenue from an additional 10% exercise tax that will be charged at the point of sale of the marijuana. The marijuana tax revenues in Michigan are expected to start flowing in from the first year of implementing the new law going with the experience reported in other states. For example, tax records shows that Colorado earned $2 million from the first months of selling recreational marijuana and by 2014 the revenue was over $4 million. Michigan’s exercise tax is significantly lower than other states, thus there is a high probability that more sellers will leave the black market to legitimize their businesses. Michigan will use the additional tax revenues to fund marijuana recovery programs, implement the recreational marijuana law, and maintain infrastructure.
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Legalizing recreational marijuana will create new job opportunities in Michigan. Once the proposed marijuana law passes, the marijuana industry will form an important sector in the state’s economy. For the first time, people will have the opportunity to apply for well-paying jobs within the industry just like other businesses in the regions. The pot business requires employees to work as business managers, cultivators, customer service providers, bakers, dental hygienists, and marketing experts among other professions. As of 2017, the number of people employed directly in the marijuana industry was estimated to range between 165,000 to 230,000 positions (Marijuana Business Daily, 2018) .Undoubtedly, the industry will also create new jobs in Michigan, thus the unemployment rates in the state will reduce, and consumers will have higher disposable income to spend. As a result, Michigan’s marijuana industry will lead to higher economic development in the region and will improve people’s living standards.
Additionally, legalizing marijuana will result to high cost savings in the criminal justice system by reducing the number of arrests and prosecution of marijuana offenders. Criminalization of marijuana increases criminal justice costs. According to Evans (2013), the prosecution, correctional rehabilitation, and police budgets spent on marijuana cases is roughly $7.7 billion-$13.7 billion. The amounts are significantly higher than the amount of court taxes and fines paid the offenders and remitted to the state and national government (Evans, 2013). Since marijuana is the most widely used recreational drug in Michigan, the number of arrests and consequent prosecution are quite high. Therefore, legalizing the drug would reduce the budgetary costs spent by the state on marijuana cases, and the savings will be diverted to better uses.
Besides, legalizing recreational marijuana will increase employees’ productivity. A significant proportion of people arrested for marijuana possession are in the workforce (Evans, 2013). Although the employees may not get a prison sentence, they spend a lot of time meeting the probation requirements. Moreover, some employees are forced to miss many days of work to go to court or keep probation appointments to avoid violating the terms of their release. As a result, the employers will benefit from the additional number of work days from their employees, thus their sales revenue and profitability will increase. Higher employee productivity also results to better economic development.
Social Benefits Legalizing Marijuana
Additionally, legalizing recreational marijuana will lead to several social benefits. Legalizing marijuana will reduce racial disparity in the prosecution of marijuana offenders and enhance equity in the society ( Hajizadeh, 2016) . The fight against marijuana is marred by racial discrimination in the country. Law enforcement officers target African Americans communities compared to other races, thus there is a high incarceration of blacks in marijuana drug related charges. The target arrests of African Americans contribute to the growing division among the police officers and the population, and increases insecurity in black neighborhoods because of the people’s fear of police officers. Michigan has a large population of African Americans, thus the law will help to protect the interests of the group and increase intragroup harmony in the region.
Legalizing recreational marijuana will create new opportunities for researchers to study the health impacts of marijuana. The USA opioid epidemic has raised significant concerns among health professionals, and there is a general interest to find a better alternative for management of chronic pain. Some professionals recommend replacing opioid pills with marijuana, but the long-term impact of such a move is unknown. Due to the criminalization of marijuana over the years, studies on the health impacts of marijuana are unknown ( Mitchell, 2016) . However, legalization of the drug will facilitate new research initiatives of how cannabis affects different groups of people like the elderly and children, and its’ addictive power on different ethnicities ( Mitchell, 2016) . The knowledge will empower the health professionals to make appropriate and effective prescriptions for their patients.
Reduction of marijuana related incarceration rates will give many children a chance to grow with both parents’ guidance and protection. The negative impacts of marijuana on the family structure cannot be underestimated. Many families lose their breadwinners and other important members resulting to negative psychological impact on the remaining family members ( McGinty et al., 2017) . Examples of the impact of incarceration on family include broken marriages, depression, and stigma from other members of the society. Besides, there is a high risk that children with incarcerated parents end up in prisons for similar or disparate crimes as their parents. Therefore, decriminalizing marijuana not only reduces the costs of the criminal justice system, it also contributes to the development of a happier and healthier society.
Illegal consumption of marijuana is a public health concern. Uncontrolled marijuana use increases the risk of substance use disorder (SUD) due to the prolonged or repeated use of the drug that results to development of a dependence on the drug (Hasun, 2018). Moreover, many people are afraid of getting medical help for marijuana SUD due to cultural beliefs, stigma, or risk of incarceration. As a result, the people with marijuana SUD suffer from many adverse health conditions like marijuana overdose and risk of induced marijuana psychosis that affects the quality of their life. Marijuana use has been reported among children and adolescents, who are vulnerable to developing an addiction in their adult life. Although the Michigan law criminalizes recreational marijuana, the drug is sold all over the state in the black market and many people have experimented with cannabis in their lives. By bringing the marijuana problem to the limelight by allowing recreational use, the public health policymakers will have an easier time addressing the health concerns of the drug. For example, the Michigan law proposes that the legal age of using recreational marijuana be 21 years, and violation of the law would result to penalties on the sellers. Already, charging the 10% exercise tax is likely to deter children from purchasing marijuana, particularly individuals living in low income neighborhoods. Other strategies for reducing marijuana consumption despite the passage of the new law include educating masses and running campaigns to reduce marijuana consumption especially among children. The health department will have an easy time tracking its achievement through the use of sales data in the industry. Controlling the production and distribution of marijuana will reduce the negative effects of the drug on public health.
Passing the proposed Michigan law will not increase marijuana users in the state. Opponents of the law argue that more people especially among the youth to begin experimenting with the law, but there is adequate evidence to show that the problem will not arise. Experience from other states like Colorado shows that there was no significant change in the number of people that smoked pot after the legalization of marijuana or rise in the number of traffic accidents. Contrastingly, positive impacts will flow into the state especially by reducing the size of the black market.
Legalizing recreational marijuana will be a big step for Michigan in the right direction. Over the years, the state has lost a significant amount of tax revenue from the thriving black market that is a constant threat to public health. The law will give Michigan the capacity to collect a huge amount of tax revenue from marijuana businesses and reduce its unemployment rate. Moreover, employee productivity will increase and criminal justice expenses will decline. On the social front, the law will reduce the number of broken homes, racial disparity, and improve medical research on the medicinal benefits of marijuana.
References
Evans, D. (2013). The economic impacts of marijuana legalization.
Hajizadeh, M. (2016). Legalizing and regulating marijuana in Canada: review of potential economic, social, and health impacts. International journal of health policy and management , 5 (8), 453.
Hasin, D. S. (2018). US epidemiology of cannabis use and associated problems. Neuropsychopharmacology , 43 (1), 195.
Marijuana Business Daily. (2018). Chart: Cannabis industry employs 165,000-plus workers. Retrieved from https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-cannabis-industry-employs-165000-plus-workers/
McGinty, E. E., Niederdeppe, J., Heley, K., & Barry, C. L. (2017). Public perceptions of arguments supporting and opposing recreational marijuana legalization. Preventive medicine , 99 , 80-86.
Mitchell, I. (2016). Public health benefits from legalizing cannabis: both sides of the coin. Canadian Medical Association Journal , 188 (1), 63-63.
