Marijuana Two-Minute Truths: The Cost of Marijuana
Comments (18)
December 16, 2008
December 16, 2008
Join Nydia as she answers this week’s question: “How much does marijuana cost?”
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18 Comments, Comment or Ping
Chris k.
You know whats sad?
I have to constantly check either mpp.org, kindgreenbuds.com or norml.com to feel somewhat human being.
I have been smoking marijuana for over 2 months now and since I have devoted a lot of my time researching and digging to find truth in this matter, not just the effects of cannabis and why it is illegal, but why people who know nothing about marijuana, are against it and anyone that uses.
All of my friends and more importantly my girlfriend of almost a year think of me as “scum” and as a “pothead.”
To give you a brief look into my life.
I am 21 I live by myself in my own apartment, paying rent and bills on time, I maintain a great job, I have started my own delivery business AND have started a successful music magazine…. all at 21.
Now I am not trying to be cocky, I am just trying to put in retrospect, what a “pot” smoker does….( ponder that )
So I guess what I am getting at is, I feel compelled to tell my friends the truth when asked, but I feel like my real friends are on this website, and are making truthful videos about this plant, and are out there trying to counter this horrible horrible stereotype and what seems to be an ever-lasting injection of propaganda to the people that I love the most.
I just want to thank all of you for at least taking the time to read all of this.
-Chris
Dec 22nd, 2008
AJ
HAHA, Is that Aaron Houston modeling some sweet MPP gear?
Dec 27th, 2008
Johnny
The government has been crazed with the fact of decriminalization of marijuana and there has been no outcome to these debates except for more debates.
I have been using marijuana for over 6 months and have always wondered why it has never been legalized. Officials have been bringing up the fact that the government should be more concerned about the war in Iraq, economic depression, etc. to helptl their fact that marijuana should be legalized but they have never compared cannabis to alchohol. In my eyes alchohol is a much more wreckless than marijuana. First of all, you OD on alchohol and there is a possibility of death where you can’t OD on marijuana, you can pass out therefore there is virtually no possibility of death.
Another situation to think of is when you have a man coming out of a bar that is wasted, then you have a man who is ripped out of his mind, they are both getting into a car to drive home, honestly who do you think is more likely to get into a severe crash, everyone’s answer: the drunken bastard.
Finally, the answer to take us out of this economic deppression could be the legalization of marijuana. The legalization of marijuana would introduce hundreds of new jobs to the economy.
I think I just proved a point.
-Johnny
Jan 3rd, 2009
michael stegall
hmmm…so. we can save 40 billion in prohibition combined with 10 billion in revenue. that’s not 10 billion, but 50 billion dollars the government can use for anything. use it on the army for all i care, just give us a chance to show that its not associated with crack OR violence. we’ll pay the taxes guys, we promise. I’ve been smoking since i was 13. at 21 that’s eight years. obviously its not that bad if i haven’t done anything other than marijuana. I don’t even drink or smoke cigarettes. Just stop calling it a drug, stop lumping it in with cocaine and meth. it’s a plant!! tylenol comes from a plant, coffee, EVERYTHING that we have ever eaten is thanks to a plant(cows eat plants). so why can’t i use this plant in the way that i want?
Jan 5th, 2009
Severeconstantpain47
how incredulous can our goverment be???? legalizing this would benefit all people that are involved with medicinal marijuana, our goverment would make millions if not billions…but for people like myself it would be the answer to our prayers…i truly believe that it will also teach and show the people that are against it the word COMPASION…THIS IS MY MAIN PLIGHT…HOW CAN ANYONE DENY THE USE OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA TO A HUMAN BEING THAT IS SUFFERING HORRIBLY AND THAT THE USE OF THIS PLANT WOULD HELP AND EASE SOMEWHAT THEIR/MY PAIN…HOW CAN THE WORLD BE SO INCOMPASIONATE…PERHAPS THIS IS THE REASON FOR SUCH INHUMANE BEHAVIOR!!! THE LACK OF COMPASSION MAY BE OUR DOWNFALL AS HUMANS AND THAT IS JUST A PURE SHAME!!!! TRULY ANYONE THAT IS AGAINST COMPASSION IS TRULY NOT HUMAN!!!!
Jan 5th, 2009
karen
im now 52 years old and am in an almost constant pain.it is no wonder ive turned to smoking weed on occasion to relieve the horrible constant pain im in as the physicians that ive ran across in my little town does not prescribe any pain medicine for me.it sure is on the streets though-some are getting it somehow as i can buy it there.but it is expensive.some makes my stomach upset.i have to work to support my kids.every day when i come home from work i can hardly walk. after a shift the bones in my feet and legs feel like their broken.the swelling is if its gonna burst outta my skin from fluid.my muscles are so sore that i can hardly stand it. one thing ive been diagnosed with is fibromyalgia. it is unbearable every day just to do simple things.i’ve smoked on and off since i was 16 with breaks of not smoking it at 10-15 year intervals.i’ve not done any other hard drugs.i did smoke cigarettes for 30 years.i tried quitting several times through the years with no luck-(i was hooked)- but finally with the patch’s help i haven’t smoked a cigarette in 5 years.tobacco is a proven killer.alcohol is a proven killer.marijuana is not a killer.i vote to legalize marijuana.marijuana is a plant that God put on this earth .as there are 11 states that have the medical marijuana law i wanna know how we can get our state going in that direction too.what needs to be done? i shouldn’t have to move in order to be pain free.
Jan 6th, 2009
Dylan Valderas
I’ve been smoking marijuana more regularly than cigarettes for over 6 years now. I can’t wait for the new democratic government to take over congress completely and see to the decrimininalization of marijuana. Check out anything regarding the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act which is going to be on the 2010 ballot. check it out at http://www.cannabistaxact.org/
Jan 13th, 2009
Matthew
at 40billion a year, that is 109 million per day (still 4.5 million per hour).. Take that money, stop the war, and convert it to stimulous money. Release the small time drug offenders, and put them back into the society. They wonder why we are in an economic crisis? Maybe cause you have a lot of the US population behind bars. Whereas those people could be out buying/working/living. even at a breakdown of $75K per MINUTE, is enough for almost ANYONE in this country, to live off of with no problems, for a year. That money could be going to (like I said stimulous), welfare, food, housing. Instead of building prisons, which serve no use in the future, BUILD APARTMENT COMPLEXES! That is more than enough to build VERY NICE housing.
Today/Friday Change.org is supposed to reveal the top 10 of the ideas people voted for. according to my email, so far..
* Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana (1st Place)
This could of course change (probably mysteriously). *crossfingers*
Fighting a war ‘I’ can never win. Where the nightmare never ends…
(for curious people)…
* Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana (1st Place)
* Appoint Secretary of Peace in Department of Peace and Non-Violence (2nd Place)
* Free Single Payer Health Care (3rd Place)
* Health Freedom IS Our First Freedom (4th Place)
* Make the grid green in 10 years (5th Place)
Jan 16th, 2009
Brew
These costs are actually still off, as the opportunity cost is not added in. We aren’t taking into account that the people who are in jail would otherwise be working, and that money would be taxed and in the system as well. Not to mention the survivors of the incarsiration will more than likely need government subsidies like food stamps, welfare, section 8.
Jan 16th, 2009
A Piper
Here’s the way I put it – weigh a pack of cigarettes (just about an ounce). They sell for less than $10 anywhere. And at less than $10/ounce (city, state taxes) RJ Reynolds and others still make enough profits to be able to pay out millions and millions in settlements and still be profitable.
The cannabis I last purchased cost me $350/ounce. Now I would much prefer to be paying that old nostalgic 10 bucks a lid price, but I would gladly give $100/ounce for this herb and let the $90/ounce go to fund health care or education or something else productive for our country.
TAX POT!
Namaste
Piper
Jan 17th, 2009
Sam C
Well said Brew, you make a great point that I feel too many people overlook. I have personally read through both Dr. Miron and Dr. Gettman’s analysis and neither figure in the opportunity costs. It is worth briefly noting that Gettmans 30 billion dollar projection for revenue is much more accurate than Miron’s 6.2 billion (which was using incrediblly flawed data from 2001).
The thing to consider is where do you think this 40 billion (30 billion revenue plus 10 billion in saving) is going to go. In all likelihood it will go towards things like security, healthcare, or education. This means more governmental jobs, which you guessed it, means even more taxes. Not only do we have people working instead of being unproductive (actually worse, they are being counterproductive), you also have more jobs from the taxes. This creates a multiplier effect that could have a major increase in our country’s GDP (possibly over 100B).
Sadly, this is all a moot point. As long as drug companies are donating money to the politicians who write the laws, we won’t see legalization. Why the drug companies? The pill version of medical marijuana (Marinol) sells $2440 for 90 pills. We wonder why nothing changes in this country.
Jan 20th, 2009
Kevin Jones
Hey all,
Driven by 20 years of useless converstion on this particualar issue, I feel compelled to comment here. Unfortunately, paradox ensues. See, talking to a smoker about pot is like preaching to the choir, and often talking to non-smokers is like trying to convert a Christian to a muslim. Those who already are talking about it are believed to have only personal interest in smoking without stigma. Dealers (most anyway) are as strongly opposed to legalization as devout Christians, but for financial reasons.
Could the columbian cartel continue to profit if it were to be legal to grow it on our own soil for our own people. NO!! Or, certianly not as much as they have. Give an American smoker the opportunity to decide where his money will end up for an equal or better bud, and he or she is going to support America. A dealer will support whatever makes him the most money. Politically, prohabition of Marijuana is what makes prices high enough for dealers to maintain this stance.
The point here is this, supporting legalization or decrimilization, should not be a smokers only issue, but it has been. MPP, NORML, and really who knows how many other groups and organizations out there, are not bad innitiatives, but tend to be supporter/supporter exchanges, sought out by those with their own interest already in the issue. We need more vast penetration of the non-smoking “real” and direct media. Educating those outside our own lives in the places they live and learn. Regular tv commecials, run not only to support specific ballot innitiatives, would be a heck of a start. Advertising in Magazines such as Time and US News and World Report, as well as the New York Times, focussing on the economic realities and less on smokers (medical or otherwise), would be great. Those who are blindly against legalization will become blind to any marketing effort seeming to be supporting the smoking of pot. When they see a smoker promoting legalization they just think “of course you want it legal!! You Pot-head!”
But, finances are personal to every American. Taxes, incarceration costs, and trade deficit, speak clearly in their languages. From toys made in China to pot grown in mexico, we need to make some changes, but it can’t happen by preaching to the choir!!
Peace to all, and please realize that those against are often qualified under the statement “forgive them for they know not what they do”.
Legalize because it is right not to be high.
Jan 24th, 2009
Christian Conservative
Marijuana will only be legalized after state and federal government identifies a way to make money from it. If we’re serious about securing our borders, protecting our children from drug-dealing murderers, and pumping some much-needed revenue into the public treasury, we’ll implement a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit, similar to a fishing permit, allowing ordinary Americans to grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
Sold by the States and splitting the revenue 50-50 with the Federal treasury, if the permit cost $100 per year, and if even one-third of the estimated 30Million Americans who use marijuana each year were to obtain such a permit, it would pump a Billion dollars into the public pocketbook AND rip the guts out of the criminal drug gangs’ cash flow.
Right now, we put our own children in prison with violent criminals for doing something that both our current Democratic President and the recent Republican Vice Presidential candidate acknowledge having done themselves.
It’s time to put the drug dealing criminals out of business and let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
Feb 5th, 2009
one healty smoker
Forget the laws. People who wanna smoke weed, should smoke weed. People who dont wanna smoke weed, shouldent smoke weed. Let the people who wanna smoke, smoke. It dosent harm anyone, and puts money into the economy, AND, (this is a big point) might even creat jobs in the homeland! Yeah! Thats a new idea! Imagine all the money we’d make! Or even do this…give marijuana a test run. Let it be legal, for say, 3 years. If we as a nation dont like it, then we’ll go back to the shitty laws. But when we find out we’ve had our collective heads up our asses, we’ll be like, “why the hell diddent we legalize this shit earlyer!”
Feb 9th, 2009
Jessie Hamby
I am 55 years young, thanks to my friend “mary”. I started smoking when I was 13. I grew up in the bay area. I now live in MO. I think it is time to stop arresting hard working people for smoking pot. Let them out of jail. We could save millions of tax dollars. legalize it. We could bring in billions of dollars in revenue. We can put millions of people to work. We can stop wasting money on a stupid law that is just another form of prohibition.
Feb 24th, 2009
Dustin
Alright, this is a no brainer. I mean anybody with a lick of common sense could see that if we are spending 40 billion a yr in Marijuana Prohibition, and the economy is in a recession on the verge of a depression why not legalize, but do it responsibly. You know you should be at least 18 to purchase, maybe even have a license you can buy to grow your own just like a tobacco farmer and of course you’ll have to pay taxes, but maybe you should be at least 21 or even 25 before you can buy the license to grow. If your that age you have a little more wisdom and your not so careless, plus if your gonna grow it at least go to school and study something in agriculture, horticulture, or botony. I dont know but it seems like a sensible idea to me the money we could save as a country, the money to be made and the jobs it would bring. Maybe we all wouldn’t be rich but I would be willing to bet that the economy would stabilize once the operation was up and running.
Feb 25th, 2009
Jack Mehoff
Chris I know your situation and I definitely feel you on what you’re saying. For over the past 4 months now I’ve been smoking weed on a regular basis. I’ve also devoted alot of my time researching marijuana and found out that really there are no major negative effects, and that there are actually many amazing benefits too this herb.
This year I graduated from my high school as a junior, and I’m now a full time college student with all my classes and book fees getting payed for by the state. Not only did I graduate from high school 2 years early, but I’m also maintaining above a 3.0 GPA at my college (and that’s with me barely putting any effort into any of my classes. I just do the minimum work to get atleast a B and I’m happy lol). For the last 2 months or so, word has spread around my high school that I’m a so called “pot head” now, and now many of the people that I thought were once my friends are looking down on me. They view me as a loser and stero-types such as that. When in all reality they are the true losers for stero-typing, and they are the less educated ones. The do not realize that by the time I’ll have a 4year degree in an engineering field, making an income of 6digit figures a year, they’ll still be the ones strugling through college, not even half way done with it. And to top it all off, people that accuse me of being a “stoner” or “pot head”, all they do is drink every other weekend (if not every weekend). And what they’re too ignorant/or straight up stupid to realize, is that alcohol is much worse for your body and has many more negative effects than using marijuana. Honestly compare the number of accidents and deaths caused by drunk drivers to the number of deaths and accidents cause by drivers who were high (if there even are any deaths related to drivers influenced by marijuana). But I’m not going to get into all of that now, this post is already long enough lol.
What I’ve come to realize that people with such a small mind set and opinion influenced so strongly by our morally wrong/idiotic society aren’t even worth my time to be talking to, to begin with. It’s sad to realize just how many peoples’ minds are boxed in and confined to stereo-types and what others tell them.
Point is Chris, I’m not saying to go hang out with a bunch of others who use marijuana, but maybe find some better, more open, understanding friends. People shouldn’t look down on you for using marijuana. Instead they should look down on themselves for jumping to stero-typical conclusions and telling someone wrong about marijuana when the only thing they know about it is the false media bullshit.
Feb 28th, 2009
TRUTH
I MYSELF SUFFER FROM SEVERAL TUMORS AND ALSO HAVE ENDOMETRIOSIS SEVERE PAIN IS CANDY.
I PRAY FOR HELP TO KEEP FROM LOSING MY JOB OR SANITY FROM PAIN.
I ASK MY DOCTOR FOR NATURAL MEDICATION HE DOESNT KNOW ANY? HOW ABOUT THAT!!!
MY DOCTOR PRESCRIBES TRAMADOL, LANESTA, VICODIN,HYDRO”S ETC. FOR MY PAIN AND SLEEP WHICH THE SIDE EFFECTS ARE EVEN WORSE.
WITH MARIJUANA IT HELPS TO RELAX MY MUSCLES FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP AND EAT AND I CAN DRIVE AND DO MY JOB WITH EASE.
ITS SAD IF WE TAKE A LOOK AT HISTORY WE WOULD UNDERSTAND AND KNOW THAT IF WE DO CULTIVATE THIS (PLANT) KEYWORD PLANT WE CAN BRING OUR ECONOMY OUT OF DEBT AND CALM DOWN AMERICA. IT CAN BE USED FOR BUILDING HOMES, ROPE, SHAMPOOS, SKIN TREATMENT, ETC.
GROWING UP IN A AREA THAT CRACK,HEROIN, METH, ICE WHATEVER SEEING CHILDREN WITH NO PARENTS AND PEOPLE WITH NO SENSE OF DIRECTION DUE TO USING (DRUGS) YES, THOSE MAN MADE NOT FROM THE EARTH PRODUCTS. WHATS A DRUG AND WHAT IS MADE FROM GOD ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. WE ALL HAVE SOME TYPE OF ADDICTION BUT ITS SAD WHEN THE GOVERNMENT WILL MAKE A LAW TO MAKE SOMETHING ILLEGAL BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT MAKE A PROFIT.
GET REAL!!! THIS WILL HELP US AS A PEOPLE.
AND SAVE MORES LIVES KEEP PEOPLE FORM OD ON DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND SLOW DOWN THE USE OF TABACOO (PROCESSED MAN MADE DRUG) AND CANCER.
LEGALIZE IT! FOR OUR NATION WE CAN PUT THAT MONEY TO GOOD USE!
ALSO I WORK FOR A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY,SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, HAVE A DEGREE, AND A PROUD PARENT! WHILE USING MARIJUANA.
SO WHO’S LAZY !!!
TRUTH
Mar 1st, 2009
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