by Robert Borneman

Created on: March 06, 2009

Decriminalizing marijuana in Springfield, as well as the rest of the U.S., is one of many good decisions that could be made in order to help relieve government debt, lower prison populations, decrease the size of government, and let Americans live a freer life.

As many as 13 states in the U.S. have at least one major city where marijuana has been decriminalized. There has been a domino effect sweeping through the nation. This is because all of the aforementioned states/cities have noticed a slight relief of burden on the prison systems and police forces in their areas. It is a well known fact that the war on drugs, both at the state and federal level, has failed. Billions of dollars are being wasted and prisons are already overcrowded. Why continue this total waste of tax money when DEA agents themselves claim they cannot stop the drug trade?

At the federal level, the war on drugs has been disastrous. It is expected that arrests for drug law violations in 2009 will exceed 1.85 million; and this is only the number of people caught. Non-violent drug arrests account for as much as 13 percent of the total U.S. prison population. In a recent CNN poll, 72% of Americans said that they think there should be no jail time for marijuana possession. This is a vast majority of people. If our government wants to even pretend it is still a democracy, or a republic, or that it represents the people in any way, then the government has an obligation to at least decriminalize marijuana at all levels.

Only a week ago, in California, assembly bill AB 390 was introduced. The bill proposes to not only decriminalize, but legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. It is estimated that taxes from selling marijuana in public stores, much like tobacco, would raise the state as much as $1 billion in the first year. During a financial crisis like the United States is currently experiencing, $1 billion is a lot of money towards a government budget. However, the sad fact is that because of misinformation and scare tactics throughout history, most of the officials voting on the bill will simply deny AB 390 for no reason, in turn denying their state an estimated billion dollars.

Whether you are somebody who smokes marijuana or not, all citizens enjoy the right to live life more freely. People realize that the government should not be able to dictate what people put in their own bodies. This is why the laws in California about trans fats were (and still are) so hotly debated. People don't want to be led around like children with big brother always deciding what they can do, even when it does not infringe on anyones rights.

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