Implications

For the purpose of this post, let's say marijuana stays illegal and does not become legal at any point of time in the foreseeable future. The purpose of this is to analyze who would be affected and what are the consequences of the policy of marijuana prohibition.

If marijuana were never to be legalized any time soon, many people could be affected negatively. Those who would use marijuana for medical use only (ie. those with glaucoma, HIV, cancer, etc.), would very possibly be giving up years of their life or even their life. The government would be forfeiting billions of dollars in federal and state budget while also giving up the chance to lighten the load in prisons nationwide and make the streets safer for citizens. Normal citizens would be robbed of their ability to make more income and increase their quality of life.

The possible externalities, or consequences that can be both positive and negative, that occur from the remained criminalization include a changed number of people with lung cancer, no increased GDP, no increased government revenue, and no more jobs or businesses created. One can look at the issue of lung cancer two ways. The first way is that most people will smoke marijuana which can possibly cause damage of the airways or even lung cancer. The way I see it is that smoking marijuana can be a substitute for smoking cigarettes, especially for those who want to smoke a safer plant. This would decrease lung cancer among the population.