# If Pot was Legal, Would we pay less taxes because of decreased inmates in jail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 10, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416 "2004-03-10T03:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Woodysunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/35a633/32.png) [@Woodysunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Woodysunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/1 "2004-03-10T03:18:56Z")
If pot was legal - wouldn’t it help lower taxes? Less Inmates in Jail because of getting high Less law enforcement just cracking down on people who sell pot/etc. Police can now do something more useful like…ticketing peopel who speed( =] ) instead of cracking down teenagers getting high ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/2 "2004-03-10T03:50:38Z")
Well…tax rates aren’t indexed to the number of people in prison, so there would be no direct reduction of taxes as a result of legalization. But the fewer people there are in the criminal justice system, the lower the amount of resources that would need to be devoted to it, which would free up those resources for other purposes, one of which might be tax reduction. Additionally, were pot legal it would undoubtedly be taxed, meaning that other taxes might be reduced as well. Were this to actually happen tomorrow, given that every state in the union and the federal government are dealing with massive budget defecits, taxes in the short term probably wouldn’t go down. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/3 "2004-03-10T03:56:47Z")
GQ is for questions with factual answers. This is more of a debate, so I’ll move it to GD. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/4 "2004-03-10T04:04:23Z")
If pot were suddenly made legal, would that mean that everyone who was in jail for a marijuana offense would be freed? If this happened, how many prison jobs would be lost? And how many of these people would go on welfare and/or unemployment? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/5 "2004-03-10T04:07:31Z")
It is a factual question, and the answer is yes. Not only would we pay less in taxes to maintain tons and tons of non-violent offenders, but those people would also be able to continue working productively to at least some extent: meaning a larger tax base, and hence less pressure on everyone else. It’s obviously better for an economy to have more currently living people working and less simply having to be supported by the rest. Of course, the government could just as easily raise new taxes and spend them on something else, but they could do that ANYTIME for no reason at all, so that’s irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/6 "2004-03-10T04:11:56Z")
Unless potheads were given amnesty by the President or something, I don’t see that happening. More likely the states would decriminalize or legalize one at a time, meaning that eventually everyone in jail for it would get out and just not be ‘replaced’ by other inmates. So I don’t think it would be catastrophic for the prison system. There might even be some benefits, as resources could be used more efficiently if jails weren’t overcrowded and more of them didn’t need to be built. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/7 "2004-03-10T04:49:20Z")
Although I guess revenue can be made by taxing legal pot but I doubt there would be a decrease in prison population. Check your state but I doubt there are many people in jail for smoking pot. I know in New Jersey you get a summons and are released. You probably will get a fine and thats all unless you have many previous offenses and then you might get a couple of days although I have never seen it. Dealers are something else but thats not what has been mentioned so far. ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/8 "2004-03-10T08:07:39Z")
To me it seems that Less People in Jail = Less Taxes I’m just a college grad though, so I’ll let the idiots do the math… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/9 "2004-03-10T08:59:17Z")
In the real world, probably not. The prison system exists and it would probably be used. If you decriminalized marijuana and other drugs, there would obviously be a lot of people not going to prison that would have otherwise. But with the prison space available, there would be public pressure to give out longer sentences for other crimes that still existed. The public would want to see DWI’s or sex offenders or white collar criminals or habitual felons or whatever else doing hard time. ---
**Author:** ![rxcannabis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@rxcannabis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rxcannabis)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/10 "2004-03-10T09:03:57Z")
> [@Woodysunshine](#): > > If pot was legal - wouldn’t it help lower taxes? > > Less Inmates in Jail because of getting high > Less law enforcement just cracking down on people who sell pot/etc. > Police can now do something more useful like…ticketing peopel who speed( =] ) instead of cracking down teenagers getting high FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO SMOKE WEED (02/19/2004) The Drug War Film Festival is going down on March 12th at the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle. This festival was organized by 911 with help from the BC Compassion Club Society, a non-profit healthcare provider distributing cannabis and other holistic medicines. The program will include: Crimes of Compassion Jennifer Pickford’s documentary about the BC and Vancouver Island Compassion Club Societies is an inside look at the trials and tribulations of medical marijuana usage in a sometimes hostile legal environment. Final Days When the LA Compassion club was raided and closed by a veritable army of state and federal authorities the camera was rolling the whole time. See this very dramatic and traumatic episode and learn how the damage is done. ---
**Author:** ![rxcannabis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@rxcannabis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rxcannabis)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/11 "2004-03-10T10:34:35Z")
911 and the BC Compassion Club Society present: DRUG WAR FILM FESTIVAL Friday, March 12 8pm $6 / $4 (911 members) There’s been some incredible progress up in Canada lately. It’s almost like our friends in the Great White North are practicing sociopolitical jujitsu - snowy ying to our repressive yang. Canada’s drug policy has evolved to focus on harm reduction instead of incarceration. Moreover, marijuana use is practically legal (it’s tolerated) up there. But look beyond the cheech and chong jokes please, a sane approach to pot means fewer prisoners, medicine for the ill… and, well, much better pot. Tonight’s festival was organized with help from the BC Compassion Club Society, a non-profit healthcare provider distributing cannabis and other holistic medicines. Crimes of Compassion Jennifer Pickford’s documentary about the BC and Vancouver Island Compassion Club Societies is an inside look at the trials and tribulations of medical marijuana usage in a sometimes hostile legal environment. Final Days When the LA Compassion club was raided and closed by a veritable army of state and federal authorities the camera was rolling the whole time. See this very dramatic and traumatic episode and learn how the damage is done. > [@rxcannabis](#): > > FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO SMOKE WEED > (02/19/2004) > > The Drug War Film Festival is going down on March 12th at the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle. > > This festival was organized by 911 with help from the BC Compassion Club Society, a non-profit healthcare provider distributing cannabis and other holistic medicines. > > The program will include: > > Crimes of Compassion > Jennifer Pickford’s documentary about the BC and Vancouver Island Compassion Club Societies is an inside look at the trials and tribulations of medical marijuana usage in a sometimes hostile legal environment. > > Final Days > When the LA Compassion club was raided and closed by a veritable army of state and federal authorities the camera was rolling the whole time. See this very dramatic and traumatic episode and learn how the damage is done. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/12 "2004-03-10T11:39:10Z")
I’d like to propose that taxes would go up to pay for all the people on wellfare because they’re too lazy to get up off their asses and go look for a job after they’ve been smoking weed all day. I will tell you this though; if they do make weed legal I’m buying stock in the Frito-Lay company as well as Hostess cupcakes and Mc Donalds… ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/13 "2004-03-10T11:44:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d like to propose that taxes would go up to pay for all the people on wellfare because they’re too lazy to get up off their asses and go look for a job after they’ve been smoking weed all day. Note that prison is _far_ more expensive than welfare and that unemployment of less than 5% is usually considered “too low”. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/14 "2004-03-10T15:22:57Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I’d like to propose that taxes would go up to pay for all the people on wellfare because they’re too lazy to get up off their asses and go look for a job after they’ve been smoking weed all day. As has been mentioned, welfare is cheaper than prison. However, just how many people are in prison purely on pot possession? What air-tight, titantium-clad guarantee do we have that we will not just fill those “empty” prison slots with people who would otherwise have been given “alternative sentencing” due to overcrowding? The real money shift would not be in less taxes spent. It would be in more taxes collected. Intoxicant taxes (alcohol, tobacco) are a major source of revenue for state and federal government. Were pot legal and taxed like tobacco and alcohol… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/15 "2004-03-10T15:39:18Z")
LOOK AT POST 7. Prisons are not full of pot smokers. At least thats not why they are there. Dealers are in prison, pot users are fined. Please come up with some facts to refute this, I may not be aware of laws elsewhere in the country but this is the way it is in the Northeast. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/16 "2004-03-10T15:58:57Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > LOOK AT POST 7. > > Prisons are not full of pot smokers. At least thats not why they are there. Dealers are in prison, pot users are fined. Please come up with some facts to refute this, I may not be aware of laws elsewhere in the country but this is the way it is in the Northeast. Why don’t you come up with some facts and cites to prove it before asking for facts to refute it. I believe in most states of the Northeast, pot possession can be punishable by jail time. I’ll even give you some help to start by linking you to somewhere that has a link to every state’s drug laws: [http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/law/law\_states.shtml](http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/law/law_states.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/17 "2004-03-10T16:11:41Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I’d like to propose that taxes would go up to pay for all the people on wellfare because they’re too lazy to get up off their asses and go look for a job after they’ve been smoking weed all day. > > I will tell you this though; if they do make weed legal I’m buying stock in the Frito-Lay company as well as Hostess cupcakes and Mc Donalds… Hey, good stereotype but you forgot to call them dirty unkempt hippies, too. Because, you know, nobody that smokes pot or does any other (illegal) drugs could possibly hold a steady, productive job or eat healthy food. > [@](#): > > If pot were suddenly made legal, would that mean that everyone who was in jail for a marijuana offense would be freed? If this happened, how many prison jobs would be lost? And how many of these people would go on welfare and/or unemployment? Yes, because having more consumers in society is bad (the ex-prisoners), and so is saving money for the local and federal government (\<–sarcasm). Either that, or the money saved by the government would be spent on other things and thus provide jobs and/or help to people, or taxes would be lowered, also releasing more money into the economy. Though I’m not a believer, the latter has to be noted because a lot of conservatives that advocate more law enforcement also believe that lowering taxes results in a better economy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/18 "2004-03-10T16:28:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Prisons are not full of pot smokers. [They are in Texas.](http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4566&wtm_view=penalties#details) > [@](#): > > Possession of two ounces or less of marijuana is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/19 "2004-03-10T17:20:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I believe in most states of the Northeast, pot possession can be punishable by jail time. Maximum penalties and actual time served are two different things. It’s up to those who think there are a lot of people doing time for pot posession to show how many. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416/20 "2004-03-10T20:37:06Z")
People _really_ aren’t aware of the prison problem Prohibition-type, draconian drug laws have imposed? Well… Let Google do the walking… (let me preface this by saying these cites do not in every case separate marijuana offenses from any other offenses, but where it was possible, I specified in my searches _non-violent_ drug offenders) Now, admittedly, this first cite looks um…suspect (crackpot, even) but the links they seem to have pulled their data from are legit (I followed links listed under the first table, mostly .gov sites): [http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/federal.htm#perc](http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/federal.htm#perc) Another link from Colorado, talking about a [1991 proposed change in marijuana laws from a $100 dollar fine to a potential six-month jail term](http://www.davekopel.org/CJ/MarijuanaJailTerms.htm), said: > [@](#): > > Under present Colorado law, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption is punished by a summons and fine of one hundred dollars. Some people have proposed that the current penalty be replaced by a jail term of up to six months. Based on studies from other states, replacing the current system of fines with a system of potential jail sentences would cost Colorado well over 10 million dollars a year, without making a dent in marijuana use. While the Legislature might determine that the cost is a worthwhile expense, this large fiscal obligation, like any other large expenditure, should be incurred only after thorough consideration of its implications. A search done at the [Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice](http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=sp10024b49&sp-q=non-violent+drug+offender+population+number) brought up this link, and tells us that Drug offenders make up 23.7% of the prison population, and the cost of holding them behind bars will be over $9 billion this year: [http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/poor/pp.html](http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/poor/pp.html) > [@](#): > > As America entered the new millennium we culminated the most punishing decade in our nation’s history. While the number of persons in jail and prison grew by 462,006 in the seven decades from 1910 to 1980, in the 1990s alone, the number of jail and prison inmates grew by an estimated 816,965. As the millennium turned, America’s prison and jail populations approached the 2 million mark, with that dubious distinction likely to be achieved within a year of the release of this report.3 > > The cost of this massive growth in incarceration is staggering. Americans will spend nearly $40 billion on prisons and jails in the year 2000. \*\*Almost $24 billion of that will go to incarcerate 1.2 million nonviolent offenders.\*\*4 Meanwhile, in two of our nation’s largest states, California and New York, the prison budgets outstripped the budgets for higher education during the mid-1990s.5 The number of people behind bars not only dwarfs America’s historical incarceration rates; it defies international comparisons as well. While America has about 5% of the world’s population, almost one in four persons incarcerated worldwide are incarcerated in the US.6 Bolding mine. The [Federal Bureau of Prisons](http://www.bop.gov/fact0598.html#Drug%5B/url) tells us that the percentages per offense follows like so: > [@](#): > > TYPES OF OFFENSES (calculated for those with offense-specific information available) > > Drug Offenses: 86,165 (54.7%) > > Weapons, Explosives, Arson: 18,280 (11.6%) > > Immigration: 16,574 (10.5%) > > Robbery: 10,150 (6.5%) > > Burglary, Larceny, Property > Offenses: 7,087 (4.5%) > > Extortion, Fraud, Bribery: 7,017 (4.4%) > > Homicide, Aggravated Assault, > and Kidnapping Offenses: 5,134 (3.3%) > > Miscellaneous: 2,914 (1.8%) > > Sex Offenses 1,621 (1.0%) > > Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement: 1,056 (0.7%) > > Courts or Corrections: > (e.g., Obstructing Justice) 728 (0.5%) > > Continuing Criminal Enterprise: 617 (0.4%) > > National Security: 90 (0.1%) It should be noted that the above table shows _Federal_ Prison statistics, not State. (104 institutions, 174,179 inmates total as of February 2004, according to the above link) A .pdf document from the [Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that in a 1997 survey of State inmates across the board, out of 1,075,167 total inmates, 507,800 were incarcerated for violent offenses, which is only just under half the number of drug offenders, 222,100. (This is a much higher number than the first year shown, 1990, where the numbers are 684,544 total, 313,600 violent, 148,600 offender, respectively. To put a more personal face on this serious issue, I bring you this tidbit from [http://pro.wanadoo.fr/tansen/bioethics/society/biggestjailer.htm](http://pro.wanadoo.fr/tansen/bioethics/society/biggestjailer.htm)]([http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cpus9701.pdf](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cpus9701.pdf)[/url) > [@](#): > > In the story above we pointed out that the U.S. jail and prison population has reached a record 2 million. Now meet one of the new breed of prisoner. > > On Thursday February 17, Louis E. Covar of Richmond County, Georgia began a seven-year prison sentence. His crime: smoking marijuana. > > Covar, age 51, is a quadriplegic. He broke his neck July 4, 1967. He has been in a wheelchair since. He is unable to do more than raise his shoulders. > > He suffers from severe and painful muscle spasms. Doctors have prescribed many different drugs to help him control the spasms and ease the pain, but Covar says prescription narcotics cloud his mind and disorient him. > > Like many other paraplegics and quadriplegics, he discovered that marijuana effectively relieved the pain and spasms and left his mind clear. > > In March 1999, Covar was given seven years of probation for a felony offense of marijuana possession. At that time his judge, after hearing Covar’s plea for the use of marijuana as medicine, told Covar: “I’m not telling you to violate the law, but keep it to yourself. Don’t get others involved.” > > “I was keeping it to myself,” Covar insisted after his latest arrest. > > That arrest came on January 25, 2000 when six armed Richmond County officers entered Covar’s home and found 36 grams of marijuana. The police obtained their search warrant based on “anonymous tips” on a telephone drug hotline. Police claim that, prior to the raid, they stopped and searched people leaving Covar’s home and found marijuana. However, in court they couldn’t answer questions about how many had been stopped or what their names were. Nor was anyone charged with drug offenses after the alleged stops. > > The same judge who had urged Covar to “keep it to yourself” revoked Covar’s probation, and Covar was ordered to jail to begin serving a seven-year sentence. > > Does everyone feel safer knowing that this dangerous criminal is at last behind bars? [marijuana.com](http://www.marijuana.com/%5B/url) (I deliberately left this source till last, because it is obviously a biased source. However, this does not make the information based off of actual comiled data any less true.) has this to say on one of it’s flyers (link folled from sidebar on main page, Prohibition Undressed) > [@](#): > > The federal government spent about $1.5 billion on prohibition in 1981. Today we are nearing $50 billion a year by many estimates at the federal level, and states spending nearly that much again - approaching $100 billion a year total. The federal government arrested a few hundred thousand people on drug charges in 1981. Today we arrest 1.6 million people a year for non-violent drug offenses. Prohibition measures its success by those incarcerated for failing to follow the law. Under our current policy success cannot be achieved without incarcerating nearly 50% of the United States Citizens. I could keep going, probably for days, but I think that’s enough to show that we’re not talking out of our asses about how much of our tax-payer dollars go to marijuana/drug offenders, not to mention how incredibly serious a problem this poses in general, both in the short and long term. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-pot-was-legal-would-we-pay-less-taxes-because-of-decreased-inmates-in-jail/233416.md?page=2)