It goes without saying that is election will be critical. But aside from the presidential nominees making headlines, there has also been a widespread attention towards the ballot initiatives. And other than Question 2, which would expand charter schools in Massachusetts, the most popular initiative was Question 4. The ballot initiative calls for the legalization and regulation for recreational marijuana. Now as someone who doesn't use cannabis, I support this legislation and call for anyone elligible to vote do so as well.
It goes without saying, but one of the greatest benefits from marijuana legalization would be an increased revenue from the tax on recreational marijuana. Each of the states that have legalized marijuana have seen an economic boom. Colorado, the first state that legalized marijuana in 2012, saw $700 million dollars in sales revenue from the opened market. $700 million dollars that has been invested towards education and other services to the public. And Colorado isn't the only state to see this increased revenue. Washington, which legalized marijuana in 2012 as well, collected $83 million in marijuana tax revenues. Oregon collected $3.48 million in taxes from recreational marijuana sales in January 2016. And Alaska has projected to make between $5.1 million and $19.2 million in tax revenue from commercial marijuana in 2016, according to a preliminary estimate by the Alaska Department of Revenue.
Along with the increased revenue that the state would gain from the ballot initiative, but this would also cut on the ever-growing prison population. The United States leads the world in prison populations, and fifty-nine percent being convicted for non-violent drug offenses. In 2015, 643,121 people were incarcerated for marijuana possession.
Now many of the critics have their arguments for opposing this ballot initiative; however, each of their arguments do not hold much strength. The most common argument is that children under the age of 21 will be "targeted" by the marijuana industry. However, the ballot states that companies that sell marijuana cannot market to anyone younger than 21. This misconception, along with many other, have been conveyed through advertisements like this one. Another aspect that this ad fails to mention is that consumers will not be allowed to smoke in public. Critics also mention how marijuana will worsen the current opioid crisis (referring to the gateway drug/slippery slope fallacy). But on the contrary, there have been many instances that cannabis is less addictive than many opioids and painkillers. And when marijuana is driven underground, many kids who get weed from black market dealers are at more risk, since there is always the risk of the substance to be cut with a more dangerous substance (such as heroin or any harder drug).
Regardless of how you feel about the current presidential candidates, I ask that you look at how there is more than the president on the ballots and vote yes on this question. When marijuana is legalized and regulated, the state gains an increase in the economy and the product devalues itself when trafficked through the underground drug trade.
