Thankfully, legalizing ends the war by eliminating the reason for its existence
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Harp, Seth (November 8, 2010), "GLOBALIZATION OF THE U.S. BLACK MARKET: PROHIBITION, THE WAR ON DRUGS, AND THE CASE OF MEXICO", nyu law review, , 08 -2018
https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NYULawReview-85-5-Harp.pdfAccessed on December 12, 2021.//IB
But decriminalization of supply, not possession, is what is needed to stop black-market violence and most other consequences of the illegal drug trade.202 So long as selling drugs is illegal, criminals will maintain their monopoly, and the problems discussed above flow from that fact and no other.203 To save Mexico from collapsing under the weight of our demand for drugs, and to staunch our own significant losses,204 something other than the criminal sanction[s] should be[ing] used to control the trade in drugs. This would end the War on Drugs and save as much as one hundred billion dollars annually.205 It might even accomplish the goal that criminal law has failed to accomplish time and time again: substantially reducing consumption. Given that one poll reported that 99% of Americans say they would never try hard drugs, even if legal,206 and given the declining rate of drug use in countries where drugs are decriminalized,
This revitalizes regional ties
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Peter Hakim 14, President emeritus and Cameron Combs is program associate at the Inter-American Dialogue, “Why the U.S. should legalize marijuana”, 1/26, http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/26/3891371/why-the-us-should-legalize-marijuana.html
Legalizing cannabis, a step most Americans now favor, is the only way out of this jumble, particularly after President Obama made clear that he would not enforce a federal ban on marijuana use in those states where it was now lawful. “We have other fish to fry,” he said. In another interview, he said marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol.¶ Legalization should also contribute to easier relations with Mexico and other neighbors to the south on issues of public sec urity.¶ To be sure, legal marijuana comes with costs and risks. The American Medical Association considers cannabis a “ dangerous drug” while the American Psychiatric Association asserts that its use impedes neurological development in adolescents and can cause the “onset of psychiatric disorders.”¶ Some studies suggest it interferes with learning and motivation. It should be anticipated that legalization will lead to greater use, at all ages, as marijuana becomes more accessible and less expensive, and the cultural and social stigmas surrounding its consumption literally go up in smoke. Abuse and addiction — including among juveniles — will rise as well.¶ But keeping marijuana illegal also carries a high price tag. Particularly devastating are the human costs of arresting and jailing thousands upon thousands of young Americans each year. Roughly one-third of all U.S. citizens are arrested by age 23. Racial and ethnic minorities are most vulnerable. African-American marijuana users are over three times more likely to be arrested and imprisoned than whites, even though the two groups consume the drug at virtually the same levels.¶ With cannabis accounting for roughly half of total drug arrests, legalization would sharply reduce this egregious disparity. It would also save money by reducing the U.S. prison population. A half a million people were incarcerated for drug offenses in 2011, a ten-fold jump since 1980 — at an average annual cost per prisoner of more than $20,000 in a minimum-security federal facility.¶ Cannabis legalization would also help to lift an unneeded burden from U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, where Washington’s drug war has long strained diplomatic relations.¶ Most governments in the hemisphere have concluded that U.S. anti-drug policies are just not working and, in many places, are actually contributing to mounting levels of crime, violence and corruption
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