STATES SHOULD DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

In most states in America, using marijuana is a criminal offense
punishable by prison time. It costs over $20,000 each year to keep one
inmate incarcerated in a minimum-security prison.

With 1.6 million people arrested on non-violent, drug-related offenses
each year, that's a pretty big hit to the budgets at every level of
government. In fact, one person is arrested for a marijuana-related
offense every 41 seconds in America. Eighty-nine percent of these
arrests are for possession - not possession with intent to sell,
growing, or sale of marijuana - and generally, more people are
arrested in a given year for marijuana-related offenses than for all
violent crimes combined.

People argue that since marijuana users generally aren't violent, the
government shouldn't be paying to lock them up. Unfortunately, a large
segment of the population is determined to stop full legalization
because they see marijuana use as an immoral and reprehensible act.
One state has recently passed a very sensible and middle-of-the-road
law.

A new proposal that has just been passed in Maine has "decriminalized"
marijuana, the first step toward a more responsible and less costly
drug policy. Decriminalization means marijuana offenses can no longer
be punished by jail terms.

With approximately 65 percent of Maine's population admitting to using
the drug at least once, this initiative will undoubtedly save the
state at least several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Decriminalization also provides the state with a stream of income
instead of draining resources.

Because decriminalization does not legalize marijuana, it is still
illegal to possess, abuse or sell marijuana. What decriminalization
does, however, is use fines as a form of punishment instead of jail
time. Fines are an easy, cost-effective way to enforce laws against
minor offenses such as marijuana possession.

According to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, if the decriminalization
policy were to be implemented across the country, the government would
save between $10 billion and $14 billion each year. California has
already had decriminalization laws in effect for several years, and
that state saves, on average, $100 million each year. There's no
reason for the federal government not to push for national
decriminalization. It would save them money and allow federal agents
to focus on crimes that are actually detrimental to society, such as
assault, rape, murder, etc.

While decriminalization results in lesser penalties for individual
users, it also has the potential to appease hardliners who would
rather see marijuana offenders prosecuted in court.

Decriminalization only allows fines for small amounts of possession,
whereas dealers and growers are still subjected to prosecution in
court and the possibility of jail time. Marijuana decriminalization
should be implemented nationally because it saves the government money
and time, and is a great step forward to eventual legalization.