If Homer lives in Denver and he wants weed he walks into a store and buys it. If Homer lives in Philly, he goes to a street corner, where illegally armed gang members sell weed. In Philly, Homer risks being shot, being poisoned, being robbed and being arrested.

I understand marijuana isn’t only sold by gang members and can be grown with a sunlamp in a closet that’s why it’s so hard to stop.

The United States spends over an estimated 15 billion dollars a year on marijuana related drug enforcement. 750,000 people are arrested on marijuana charges a year, most of which do not go to prison. Only about 40,000 are currently jailed on marijuana only charges. The US spends about 30,000 dollars per prisoner. So we can add another 1.2 billion to our 15 billion making it 16.2 billion.

16.2 billion in savings then gets doubled. Why? Because instead of paying for marijuana probation, we get to tax marijuana. Now we are at 32.4 billion dollars. Yes, the US budget is about 7 trillion, but 32.4 billion dollars is still a lot of money and is probably a very low estimate.

Millions of small business would be started if marijuana is legalized and billions of income would be created and taxed. Colorado is a very small state and had 1 billion in marijuana sales last year. Here are some rough numbers:

Colorado has about 1.2 % of the total US population. If we consider an equal sales rate that would make marijuana legalization in the U.S.A. worth about 83 billion dollars. That would add around 10 billion in tax revenue, not counting sales tax.

Now we are talking about 42.4 billion dollars extra in the budget and a new booming small business industry.

Wait, Wait, won’t this hurt our children? Marijuana may not hurt adults as, studies have shown, but what about our kid? Good news! In states where marijuana has been legalized the percentage of kids using marijuana goes down. We don’t quite have enough data to tell why yet, most researchers think it’s because kids are being educated about the damage using can cause to developing adolescents. Personally, I believe that’s a bunch a crap. I think the removal of the marijuana black market is what makes this difference.

Why would a person sell to a teenager and possibly go to jail and have their business shut down, when the person can sell to an adult and make lots of money legally? Legalizing marijuana reduces its availability to children whom it hurts.

The USA has race problems. No one can or should argue that. Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana. Most studies show equal usage rates among whites and blacks in the US. Nearly 50 percent of all black males have been arrested by the age of 23.

If Marijuana is Legalized; The Facts in Short:

1. The USA budget gets roughly a 42.4 billion dollar boost.
2. Unemployment goes down.
3. Small business ownership increases.
4. Racial tension would be decreased by lower arrest rate for young blacks.
5. Less children smoke pot.

All of the above may seem trivial when you look at things like a 50% arrest rate and a trillion-dollar budget. However, history has shown that small meaningful changes can turn a country and an economy around.

Now we dance:

P.S. I do not use marijuana and I also didn’t vote for Bernie Sanders, but just because I do not use something, or believe in someone enough to vote for them does not mean I can’t listen to them.

Some helpful links:
http://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/when-teens-have-more-access-to-marijuana-this-is-what-happens.html/?ref=YF&yptr=yahoo
http://norml.org/aboutmarijuana/item/marijuana-decriminalization-talking-points-2
http://www.solitudecanyon.com/thoughts-from-the-canyon/we-spend-how-much-on-prisoners-every-year-
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/top-10-marijuana-myths-and-facts-20120822/myth-marijuana-use-causes-cancer-19691231
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00217-5/abstract