Legalizing Marijuana in India: An Economic Aspect.: Scientific American

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN INDIA:
AN ECONOMIC ASPECT.
Much water has already flown over the topic of legalization of cannabis or marijuana
across the world. The harmful effects of cannabis abuse is subject of much
controversy in India as well as in the west. Cannabis or marijuana is a drug
produced from Cannabis Sativa (also known as hemp) is the third most consumed
recreational drug in the after, after alcohol and tobacco. Under notorious reasons of
racism, fear and protection of corporate profits, the United States of America
prohibited the sale and use of cannabis, recreational or medical, comprehensively in
1970 and formed the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) in 1973 to wage a war on
drugs. In the single Geneva Convention of 1961, it was made mandatory for all
signatory nations to stop the use and sale of the drugs listed as harmful, which
included marijuana as a schedule-I drug. India, where once marijuana was sold
through government outlets, was given 25 years to ban the use of cannabis
products since its abuse was widespread. When the exemption period ran out in
1985, the government introduced the NDPS (Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances) Act which laid down control procedures for opiates, cannabis and
psychotropic substances. Recently, however, the conclusions drawn at the National
Workshop on Cannabis Health Damage and Legislative Options at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, that cannabis does not have
adverse health effects long-term or short-term, may open the door for heightened
debate of legalizing marijuana in India.
In the west, there has been growing demand of decriminalizing and legalizing the
use of cannabis, whether medicinal or recreational. 23 states in the United States
has done away with criminalization and 3 states have legalized the use of cannabis.
Indeed, those who advocate legalizing cannabis like to draw comparisons between
its health and social effects and that of alcohol consumption. When compared to
alcohol, Cannabis is proven to be less harmful 1. It is non-addictive and less antisocial. There has never been a report of anyone dying of cannabis overdose. With
alcohol, crisis behavior probability is higher and well documented in accidents,
domestic violence and sexual crimes. Such behavior, however, is not associated
with cannabis.
The legalization of cannabis is relevant to a good economic cost-benefit analysis.
However, not all costs and benefits can be quantified in terms of currency amounts,
although it makes for an easier conclusion. An economist would agree on
legalization as long as the expected net benefit of doing so is positive and if the
risks of a net negative benefit is not too high. Yet, many of the benefits and costs
1 Scientific American Explains why Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.
cannot normally be measured in money and can only be guessed at, so it is a tricky
business.
For instance, a big bone of contention is whether the usage will go up. Opponents of
legalization tends to argue that usage will shoot up while the proponents say that
most people who would want to smoke marijuana are already smoking it now. Both
arguments imply that increased usage is a bad thing. If it is, then the case has to be
made keeping in mind that 3.2% of Indian population that uses marijuana probably
enjoy doing so. Marijuana isnt free, they run the risk of getting arrested and there
are legal substitute around like alcohol and yet they choose to consume it. Not
everyone will approve of each others consumption choice, just like I might not
approve someones choice to consume snake-meat or the new Niti Ayog, but if it
makes the users happy, it has to be taken into account. Any reasonable cost-benefit
analysis has to include the enjoyment of marijuana by future users as well as the
present ones who might be able to procure it more cheaply, conveniently, safely
and with less worry.
If the argument is that marijuana usage is bad because the drug is addictive,
destructive or harms productivity, there has to be some evidence to show for it.
Instead, ample evidence suggests that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and
in a recent New Yorker interview, even U.S President Obama has concurred. A recent
study by economists D. Mark Anderson and Daniel Rees found that semilegalization, in the form of medical marijuana, in 16 U.S states led adults to
consume more cannabis but to moderate their alcohol consumption, leading to a 9
percent decrease in traffic fatalities. Cannabis has not been found to be physically
addictive and addiction rates of any kind are much lower than alcohol, tobacco or
harder drugs. Even though its much better to not have vices, the vast majority of
people who are currently prohibited from using cannabis find another legal vice,
mostly alcohol and/or tobacco. Even though, a drug that is smoked, marijuana can
lead to lung cancer and other health problems, but unlike tobacco cigarettes,
cannabis is typically consumed in small doses and has yet to be linked to a single
death.
As far as worker productivity is concerned, the main thing to note is that nobody is
advocating smoking marijuana or being high on the job, any more than anyone
advocates being drunk on the job. People are expected to show up at sober and
employers have the right to fire anyone who fail to meet this basic requirement. The
issue, then, is whether smoking cannabis impairs ones job performance. Long-term
memory loss and amotivational syndrome has been alleged but decades worth of
research have debunked both of these claims.
As we can see, the expected costs of legalization of marijuana is minimal. Now, for
the benefits. The propagators of marijuana legalization harp the tunes of increased
tax revenue, lower enforcement costs and a bulk of benefits of current and future
marijuana users. The tax benefits tend to be greatly overblown, firstly because, a
higher taxes arent really a benefit. They are simply a transfer from people who pay
them to people who dont. Yet, the government continue to increase sales tax on
tobacco and alcohol, where the same effect of tax transfer occur increasingly. The
Colorado government, which legalized recreational use of marijuana recently in

2012, has earned a staggering $98 million in tax revenue by the end of 2014.
Marijuana and its mother-plant, Hemp has the ability to become a cash crop for the
country earning millions in trade. The benefits of reduced prohibition enforcement
are high as well. The financial burden of criminalizing a widely-used recreational
drug is very big on the criminal justice system of a country. According to data on the
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) website, 67 percent of illicit drug seizure
cases from the year 2007-2011 are marijuana related. Only 43 percent of the cases
deal with the seizure of hard drugs like opium and cocaine. Given that Indias
criminal justice system is already overburdened, it seems ridiculous to continue to
pour in resources to go after what is arguably less addictive, recreational and
psychoactive herb that is less toxic than tobacco. The bulk of benefits, would thus
be to current and prospective users of marijuana and the big benefit comes from
the fact that the population that consumes cannabis will no longer be treated as
criminals and subject to arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, asset forfeiture and other
punishments.
The benefits goes way beyond the criminal justice system costs of enforcing
marijuana laws. It is about the ability of the population of cannabis user, their
families and friends to live normal lives. Perhaps because of the huge personal and
social costs of criminalizing a recreational behavior of thousands, about a dozen US
states have already decriminalized marijuana. Decriminalization is a halfway
measure where consumption is legal but the manufacture and sale is still illegal.
This kind of decriminalization has been tried before, with alcohol. It was called
Prohibition with the United States banning the manufacture, transport and sale of
alcohol but not the consumption of it. Under alcohol prohibition or cannabis
decriminalization, using the substance is okay but procuring it makes one a criminal
and forces one to deal with bigger criminals (dealers) in an unregulated black
market. Product safety and quality will be lacking in such market. For instance, the
marijuana thats currently in the market is often heavily adulterated with shoe
polish or rat poison (because they burn the same way and its difficult to tell the
difference). It can also be laced with opium that not only gives the herb a stronger
kick, but also makes a relatively harmless substance dangerous. Compared with
legalization, the net benefits of decriminalization looks much lesser. Open and
regulated markets are safer than black markets and our judicial system is clogged
enough already with real criminals.
With the mass of evidence staring at us in the face, it is time to begin a discourse on marijuana.
There exists much misinformation around marijuana and its consequences: social, economic
and psychological. Do we continue to sit on the fence with laws that are outdated? Or do we
move with the times and try to adopt a more comprehensive and well thought-out legislation? An
informed debate is necessary.

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LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN INDIA:

1 Scientific American Explains why Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.

Colorado government, which legalized recreational use of marijuana recently in

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