Dear Future President,

I think we need to legalize marijuana. I know that you have a lot on your plate but I think this might be able to help. Legalizing marijuana could help with money and it might even lower the crime rate. It could also help people who need it for medical reasons. First, lets start off with money. If we look at Colorado, they made $53 million dollars in tax revenue. With that money we could put it in schools and other things that need a lot of funding. I also think that if we legalize marijuana, for not only medical purposes but also for recreational purposes, that it would reduce the crime rate. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/medical-marijuana-crime-study_n_5044397.html) “Morris, associate professor of criminology at UT Dallas, and his colleagues looked at crime rates for all 50 U.S. states from 1990 to 2006. During this period, 11 states legalized medical marijuana. The researchers examined legalization’s effect on what the FBI calls Part I crimes, which include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft.” After this they state that they found no increase in crime. In fact they found that there was a slight decrease in forms of homicide and assault.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/medical-marijuana-crime-study_n_5044397.html

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/12/news/economy/colorado-marijuana-tax-revenue/