Cost of Marijuana Prohibition: $42 Billion Per Year
Marijuana's $42 Billion Question
The U.S. marijuana is a $113 billion annual business that costs
taxpayers $41.8 billion in enforcement costs and lost tax revenues,
according to a study to be published later Monday.
The study, "Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws," by Jon
Gettman, contends that marijuana sales are mostly the province of
teenagers and young adults. His numbers also imply that the industry is
supported, in both demand prices, by a relatively few extremely heavy
users.
The study used diverse sources including government studies, private research and even High Times
magazine to determine that about 25 million Americans consume an
estimated total of 31 million pounds of pot annually. The number of
users, and the price paid for pot, have changed little over recent
years, despite continual government interdiction and incarceration
efforts, the study says.
Based on government assumption that some 28.7% of U.S. gross domestic
product ends up as tax revenue on a federal, state or local basis, the
$113 billion could yield $31 billion in taxes. Assuming that marijuana
offenses, which are 5.54% of all arrests, take an equal share of the
country's $193 billion in annual criminal justice expenditures, Gettman
finds another $10.7 billion in annual savings.
Gettman, who has a Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University
and publishes extensively on the pot business, admits that his numbers
are at best rough, but contends they represent an accurate study of
what keeping pot illegal costs. "The real answers are somewhere inside
the bands" of all the published studies, he says. "It would be
interesting to see what the government did with another $42 billion."
The report is available at www.drugscience.org, the Web site of The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform, Gettman's organization.
Away from the headline numbers, a closer examination of Gettman's work
carries a couple of interesting surprises. The annual 31 million pounds
of pot consumed works out to a daily consumption equivalent by American
pot smokers of 1.5 to 1.75 of the 85-by-25-millimeter (length and
circumference, respectively) standard joint that the U.S. government
rolls for in its studies. Most users don't fire up that much, however.
Of the 25 million annual users, some 12.8 million people over the age
of 18 use pot monthly, and about 23% of these smoke three or more
joints a day. In this, marijuana seems much like the alcohol business,
which relies on 20% of its consumers for more than half of its
consumption.
In addition, Gettman's work says that 54.8% of children aged 12-17 and
52.8% of adults over the age of 35 say marijuana would be easy for them
to get. The number spikes by as much as 20 percentage points for people
between those ages.
In terms of drug selling, however, the numbers skew lower: According to
a government study quoted in the report, 3.2% of kids 12-17 have sold
drugs, while for those 18 to 24 the number is 6%. It falls to 2.3% for
people 25 to 34, and to a mere 0.7% for the 35-and-over set. While this
number applies to all drug sales, and not just pot, Gettman maintains
that licit marijuana would drive many young dealers out of business.
"Right now, kids buy from other kids," he says. "The fixed costs of
entry are quite affordable for a 16-year-old. We don't have that
structure in the liquor business. There is an economic incentive for a
child to do this, and no control under the current regimen."
3 stars
The cost is important but it's for our child's health ! is there any price for that !
I think that yes, the price may be high, but it is any price to expensive that keeps our future generations safe and healthy. I think that people who are addicted to marijuana or any other drug should do a drug rehab program and solve their addiction and return back to a happy, healthy, productive and drug-free life.
Oh yea, like children havent been able to get pot. The legal penalties for pot are more damaging than the effects of the drug itself! Not to mention, the drug war has been a miserable failure: Drugs are cheaper, more available, and more potent than ever, our jails are full of nonviolent citizens, and corruption of the police is evident. The truth is alcohol will kill way more children than all other drugs combined. Not to even mention the 450,000 people who die from tobacco in this country.Way to protect those kids!
i cant even rationalize how some people think that this prohibition is protecting our youth, if any think it hurting them. the current system forces you to buy a harmless plant from a ruthless drug dealer who would careless than to kill you and keep the money for himself. Wouldn't you rather buy from a store clerk? also more people die from caffeine overdoses that marijuana, actually an infinitesimal times more seeing as no one ever has died from a marijuana overdose, and i mean any one in 5000 years there are no reported cases of it. and if the government regulated it like any other over the counter drug you would never have to worry about it being laced. Pros out weigh the nonexistent cons, end of story.
I find the first two comments baffling. It is apparent that not only did the read the article in its entirety, they also failed to follow the provided link to drugscience.org, and have also displayed a high level of ignorance towards marijuana's uses and supposed dangers. If you are at all interested in the marijuana debate and can approach the topic with an open mind, I suggest a google video search for The Union: The business behind getting high. The testimony from politicians, medical doctors, lawyers, university professors, and patients is a far more accurate and realistic representation of marijuana than that presented in everyday media.
Gosh ! That's expensive !
Waiting for legalization :)
im vegetariengreen change i like
Is that worth it ? Maybe that they should use that money doing anything else...
oh the price is so high....
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