Bodily Autonomy is a fundamental human right - you own your own body, and can do what you want with it without ethical consequences, as long as your actions aren't directly affecting others (then it becomes an ethical concern).
It is a highly beneficial cash crop. Legalization would create a larger industry, providing more job opportunities. Due to its popular demand, taxation would bring millions in revenue, which could be used to better fund social welfare programs, outweighing any socially negative side effects.
the world oldest domestic crop, industrial hemp, would also become legal to grow. 1 acre of hemp can produce the same amount of cellulose pulp as 4 acres of trees. because of this, hemp is a perfect material to replace wood in press board and particle board, and paper.
sources:
1916 USDA study on Hemp Hurds as a Paper-Making Material.
The Emperor Wears No
Clothes.
The government has no right to determine what I can and can't put into my body, so long as I do no harm to others or put anyone in harms way. I have the right to pursue happiness, even chemically. Besides, how much did CO make in recreational taxes last year? $25.8mil. Think of the economy.
A large percentage of the population is using it anyway, despite its legal status. The government is obliged to protect its citizens from a polluted supply chain, in the control of organized crime.
There are already 17.3 million people in the U.S. alone who require treatment and rehab for just alcohol abuse. If make marijuana legal in the same situation as alcohol, the state will have spend even more money on rehabilitating weed users as well.
joey911900
