During a visit to Colorado this weekend, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the legalization of marijuana “one of the stupider things” occurring in the United States. Bloomberg suggested that legalization efforts could lead to children’s intelligence levels dropping. Recreational marijuana has so far been legalized in four states: Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. Washington, DC has also voted to legalize recreational marijuana, but such efforts have so far been blocked by Congress.
Bloomberg’s opposition to personal choice is nothing new, as he attempted a ban on large sodas during his tenure as Mayor. However, the ban was struck down by the New York State Court of Appeals. Bloomberg’s statements and actions contain a common thread of not trusting individuals to know what is in their own best interest. Furthermore, Bloomberg’s statements on marijuana infer that just because marijuana is legalized, more people will begin to use it.
Bloomberg should instead examine what have been the costs of implementing a ban on the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. In 2013, nearly 700,000 Americans were arrested for a crime involving marijuana. 88% of those were mere possession. Between 2001 and 2010, over 7 million Americans were busted for marijuana possession. Nearly half of all drug arrests are for marijuana possession.
States spend almost $4 billion enforcing marijuana laws each year. Additionally, it is estimated that if these states were to legalize and tax marijuana, they could inherit over $3 billion in revenue. In other words, legalization and taxation would have a total budget swing of about $7 billion for the states. However, it does need to be noted that whether or not to tax would be a separate issue altogether.
Additionally, marijuana arrests have had a disparate impact on minorities. Even though white and black Americans use the drug at the same rate, blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. There is no question that these kinds of disparities have helped to hold back so many black Americans as they strive for equality. The reasoning behind it is perhaps not explicit racism by officers; rather, it is much simpler to make arrests in the inner-cities, where drug use is known and multiple users are able to be nabbed at once. This is just one of too many examples of government creating laws so plentiful that full discretion of when to enforce is left completely in the hands of officers.
One of the most commonly used arguments against the legalization of marijuana is that it is a “gateway” drug that only leads to other, “harder” drugs. However, this is easily debunked through common logic. Marijuana is no more a gateway to heroin than water is a gateway to whiskey. Marijuana is so widely used that if someone has partaken in more extreme intoxicants, they have of course already used marijuana. People who have tried an “illicit drug” of any kind have usually tried only marijuana and nothing else. Consider that in 2009, 2.3 million people reported using marijuana, as opposed to 617,000 who had tried cocaine and 180,000 who had tried heroin.
In fact, if anything, prohibition is what has made marijuana a gateway drug. As it is now, youths who wish to try marijuana must go to many of the same dealers who deal other kinds of drugs. In order to get them “hooked,” dealers may well attempt to market to their customers other types of drugs; drugs that they would have never otherwise encountered. Prohibition could also very well be the reason why marijuana has become more potent (another point made by Bloomberg in his support of prohibition). Because dealers are in a black market and risk imprisonment on a daily basis, they must make “bang for their buck.” In other words, by making their marijuana stronger and at the same time investing as little as possible, like any other business, they optimize and provide larger profits.
Michael Bloomberg, just like dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of American politicians, places his hypocrisy on full display when he promotes prohibition. While he was lucky enough to smoke marijuana when he was younger, avoid imprisonment and go on to have a very successful life, millions of others are not so lucky.
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