There are many ethical issues when looking at the marijuana industry. It is perhaps one of the more talked about debates when deciding on whether or not the legalization of this drug would be positive or negative for the economy. It is proven that medicinal marijuana has positive medical effects. However, when you look from the other side of this topic, The American Cancer Society states that the drug delivers harmful substances to the body.
I could sit here and write about the debate that goes on that deals with medical reasons solely on the topic of legalizing marijuana. However, I believe that the debate goes beyond this. If marijuana becomes legalized, and the government decides to tax the sale of the drug, it will help provide a dramatic increase in revenues. According to the green rainbow party, the total US marijuana production totals to 14, 349 metric tons per year. This amount consists of a retail value of $113 billion which in the big picture is $31.1 billion in lost tax revenue a year. Of course the tax money generated can be used for many positive factors in the economy.
The opposing side to the tax revenue that could be made is how ethical is it for the government to legalize a drug for revenue reasons that could have potential harmful effects for the public. The drug does have effects that impair the user in which it could be harmful to the public. If this was the case, it wouldn’t be in the governments best interest to legalize marijuana for revenue based reasons entirely.
Another argument that supports the debate of pro legalization of marijuana, is the jobs that will be created. There will be many new jobs available when it comes to distribution, production, legal and regulatory control jobs, and the jobs that will be available when it deals with hemp.
In conclusion, you can definitely see the ethical debate on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. I currently sit on the fence on the issue and would need to see a regulations guide to the legalized side to prevent harmful situations.