Marijuana has been legalized in Washington and Colorado, Hawaii might as well be the next state to join the group. Recently a Hawaiian legislator presented a bill to legalize the production and the export of marijuana from Hawaii, claiming it will reap many economic benefits and a direct solution to the economic downturn facing Hawaii.

The bill claims that the revenue from the sales of marijuana can be used in “funding for education, healthcare, and human services programs.” In this case, by presenting this bill, the Hawaiian legislator definitely believes that the benefit outweigh the harm.

It is fairly established that marijuana brings more risk to its users or even the offsprings of the users. But should the legalization of Marijuana be completely rejected for the health risk regardless of its potential economic benefits?

Legalizing marijuana could save the U.S. government billions and billions of dollar and generates even more revenue in taxation. According to a study by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, U.S. government’s elimination of the prohibition enforcement alone would save $13.7 billion dollars. Officials in Colorado anticipates that marijuana sales could add up to $200 million to Colorado’s economy, and close to $70 million in tax revenue.

While the health risk of marijuana should not be disregarded, it does provide a viable solution to America’s economic problems. There will never be solutions to use of illegal drugs overnight and punishment does not seem to refrain anyone from using it further, speaking from my experience as an RA at Ithaca College. Why don’t we legalize it first in order to solve our most pressing issues, such as poverty, housing shortage, soaring price for education and the mountainous debts, etc.