The Biggest Benefit of Marijuana Legalization: The Fall of Private Prisons

Lost in the discussion about the legalization of marijuana, which I support, has been the toll that the drug war has had on communities all around the United States and frankly - the world. Due to the illegality of consciousness-altering substances, people are spending decades of their lives behind bars purely because they wanted to get high. 

Whether you think "getting high" is a good thing or not isn't as important as whether or not you're comfortable with people losing their lives over a few minutes to a few hours of euphoric elation.

Consider these facts...

1. The private prison industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. with the highest number of prisoners per 100,000 people. We've held this record in the U.S. for numerous years now.
2. 1 in 4 people incarcerated globally are in a U.S. prison.
3. Safety is a major issue in the private prison sector. Jails are over-crowded with inmates, many of them non-violent drug offenders. Prison staff is often underpaid and less trained staff is usually recruited by companies looking to cut corners.
4. Inmates usually aren't just sitting in jail cells all day. They are worked nearly for free as 37 states have legalized corporations using prison labor to produce their goods. Revlon, Dell, IBM are just a handful of the companies that have used prison labor. 93% of all paint and paintbrushes are produced with prison labor. 36% of home appliances, 21% of office furniture.
5. The "highest-paying" private prison is run by Correction Corporations of America (CCA) in TN where inmates make $0.50 for "high-skilled positions."
6. The Federal government spends $55 billion annually maintaining its prison system consisting of 2.3 million people. Talk about government waste.
7. Contracts that are signed between private prison companies and states usually come with what are known as lockup quotas. Meaning the state is forced to make sure a certain percentage of jail beds are filled. This creates an incentive for state governments to find new ways to criminalize the population...essentially creating problems where there hadn't been any before.

This only represents a small amount of the data that is out there for those seeking information about what is going on. Marijuana should be legalized not simply for it's impact on the consciousness or the amount of money to be made in a legalized system. The main reason should be the end of the private prison industry or at the very least putting a significant dent in its operation. It's about the lives that this has impacted negatively the most. I think that gets lost in the conversation all too often.

The Path Forward

California continues to be a leader on this issue. Provisions in the new legalization law there are offering a second chance to people convicted of almost any marijuana crimes, from serious felonies to small infractions, with the opportunity to have their criminal records cleared or the charges sharply reduced. State officials hope to reverse decades of marijuana convictions that can make it difficult for people to gain meaningful employment and disproportionately affect low-income minorities. 

I haven't checked to see if there are provisions similar to this in other states, but I'd offer my opinion and say you can't really legalize without clearing convictions and taking a stab at the private prison industry which is growing out of control. 

Going forward, the emphasis should be placed on treatment when it comes to addiction. Not incarceration and criminalization which really doesn't benefit society. The current system takes parents away from the home and puts stress on entire families to carry the burden. It's also a financial drain on society as pointed out above and with other statistics not listed here.

Just keep this in mind my fellow Steemians.

Have a nice day.