At this point in time, 33 states have legal medical marijuana and 10 states have legal recreational marijuana. Sentiments show that most Americans are in favor of legal medical marijuana, and there is strong support for legal recreational marijuana as well. There are many compelling reasons that marijuana should be legalized.

Reduce Harm to Society

When it comes to the criminal consequences of marijuana, most of the consequences falls on young people of color. This occurs despite the well-known fact that marijuana use is equal among young white individuals and young individuals of color. This places an additional burden on communities of color, resulting in increased incarceration rates which have long-term impacts on their communities.

Additionally, as long as marijuana is illegal, there will be illegal operations around it. There will be violence and corruption that occurs in order to produce and sell the drug. Legalization makes the marijuana business come out into the light, which can help reduce violence and harm.

Create Legitimate Jobs

Legalizing marijuana can have a huge ripple impact on the local economy, and if it was ever legalized on a national level, it would have an even bigger impact. Legalized marijuana creates jobs in the farming and retail industry. Legalization has far bigger ripple effects on the economy. It can create more jobs for accountants, marketing firms, packaging companies, and a whole slew of other industries that experience more business when marijuana is legalized. This benefits not only the individuals who get these jobs, but the local economy, as more money funneled back into the local economy.

Reduce State Overhead

A large portion of money is spent every year by local and state police departments to arrest those involved in the growing and selling of marijuana. By making marijuana legal, those funds can be spent on other efforts that can benefit the community more. That money can be spent tracking down violent criminals, or it can be spent on other crimes that threaten the welfare of the overall community.

Additionally, instead of spending money on fighting marijuana, the state will be making money. Every state that has legalized either recreational or medical marijuana has also put into place some sort of taxing structure on the products and the businesses that supply the product. New tax revenue is always welcome and can be spent in a variety of ways that benefit the local community and the state as whole.

Legalizing marijuana has overwhelming support in the United States. Marijuana legalization can help stop the unfair prosecution of people of color for marijuana, it can help create jobs in many industries, it can put money back into the budgets of law enforcement for other crimes, and can bring in increased revenue that can be used to positively impact the state and local area.