The legalization of marijuana has been a controversial topic ever since it first grabbed media attention. There are multiple divides on whether or not marijuana should be legalized with one side raging about its medicinal benefits while the other projecting its harmful implications for youth. However, whichever side of the scale you choose to be on, you cannot fail to miss the economic benefits of legalizing marijuana.
Different states in the United States of America have voted to legalize recreational consumption of Marijuana, whereas others have also pushed for its medical use. Irrespective of its use and orientation, multiple states are pushing to legalize marijuana and the economic impact that these policies would have on the country’s economy is immense. Listed below are some of the ways how economy can benefit from marijuana legalization:
1. Tax revenues
The first and foremost impact of marijuana legalization would be on tax revenues in any country. When individuals begin the farming and sale of marijuana and its by-products, the revenue they earn would in turn contribute to tax revenues in the country. Individuals who look to cultivate and farm marijuana can see prices of engineered seeds and research on how easy it is to grow and sell marijuana based products.
Infact, many states in the United States of America have legalized marijuana with increased tax revenues being their most heightened consideration and the highest contributing factor in tilting their decision towards marijuana legalization.
2. More jobs
The legalization of marijuana would give rise to multiple nurseries and dispensaries for marijuana manufacturing and sale. This would in turn create multiple job opportunities for the youth and create economic activity in a place where there was no productivity earlier at all. States that already have the right infrastructure and climate for pot growing would benefit the most from all of this as in the long run the process of marijuana manufacturing would mature and become more profitable.
Employment would increase as employees would be needed to handle the entire manufacturing and production ranging from farming, processing, distributing, packaging, quality check and sales.
3. More investment opportunities
By legalizing marijuana, states would be opening a lot of investment opportunities from investors on a national and global level. Especially when you consider the fact that marijuana is illegal on the state level, notably investors are not able to fully optimize the profitability from this lucrative industry. They would look towards investing in states where the industry is projected to grow the most and this would hence increase scalability for the companies in marijuana industry.
The legalization of marijuana is likely to open an entire ecosystem within the current economy. Marijuana farms, marijuana cafes, marijuana stores – you name it, and it would be present nationwide in the next decade or so. This would have multiple positive effects on the entire country including a rise in employment, higher tax collections, economic growth, etc. Policy makers and individuals need to realize the importance of introducing this motion in national meetings and promoting it.
