When we started this blog, we thought we’d only
discuss environment-related issues. And
that’s been pretty amazing, I’m not going to say otherwise. But when I think
about it, Going Green can be a lot more than that. In our Facebook page, we
describe ourselves as ‘environmentally aware’ and that was supposed to mean
that we take interest in the impact our life styles have on the environment.
Nevertheless, I’ve come to the realization that this expression can have a
wider meaning. The environment is not only “the natural world in which people,
animals and plants live”[1],
but also “the conditions that affect the behavior and development of someone or
something”[2].
Why am I telling you this? Because in this occasion I want to write about a
subject that falls into the second meaning of environment.
The
decriminalization and legalization of marijuana is a topic of debate that’s
been in the public eye for years and hasn’t yet been entirely solved, even though
it has been proven that penalization of cannabis consumption is not the way
to win the war against drugs or an effective way of reducing its use. Take
Chile, for example. Under Law 20.000, the Chilean regulation on drug use, marijuana
is classified as a hard drug, which means that it’s at the same level as heroin
and cocaine. And in spite of current regulations, the number of consumers has
only grown higher over the past years. In fact, Chile has the highest rate of
usage in the region according to the 2015 OAS Report on Drug use in the
Americas. Drug policies like this one involve an elevated monetary cost. In 2012,
more than 80,000 people were arrested on drug charges, 60% of them being
charged with possession[3].
As a consequence, we have overcrowded prisons and the State spends millions of
dollars a year in law enforcement.
If marijuana was legalized, the State would be
able to regulate and monitor marijuana’s sale and by doing so, it could get its
hands on tax revenues. In the US, annual marijuana trade is approximately USD
113 billion which, according to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, represents
about USD 45 billion in taxes[4].
Marijuana legalization would also create jobs associated with cultivation,
boosting the agricultural industry. Moreover, the industry of tourism could be
revitalized. Think of Amsterdam for a second, the capital city of the
Netherlands, where tourists travel from all over the world to visit the Coffeeshops,
licensed establishments where you can legally buy cannabis products. It’s high time we rethink prohibicionism if we
want to benefit from marijuana legalization. Only then the grass will be
greener on OUR side.
[1] Definition from Oxford Learners
Dictionaries Online (http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/environment?q=environment)
[2] Definition from Oxford
Learners Dictionaries Online (http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/environment?q=environment)
[3] 24 horas website
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