If you stopped the war on marijuana on a national level tomorrow, the USA would save $42billion not including incarceration and judicial appearances. So let's round up another few billion and call it $50billion total savings throughout the USA, a third of the money we need to rebuild our roads and crumbling bridges.
And it gets better
Once Colorado decided to legalize and tax marijuana they produced $184million in additional tax revenues, were able to curtail local gang violence by concentrating on real crime and have improved their health system for the poor or young immensely. In fact, Colorado may get everyone stoned, but due to the provisions that give free birth control to those win high risk pregnancy areas has led to a 72% drop in teen pregnancies; even when their high.
Now take a moment and multiply that by 50 states...
50 multiplied by 140million every 12 months creates 7BILLION in tax revenue nationwide.
Now take those 50 states and add to that 7Billion in tax revenue the licensing, permits, construction, training and hundreds of jobs plus 6.2% in FICA taxes for the fed. Most marijuana jobs start well above 10 dollars an hour and depending on your cannabis education even more. So calculating this as close as I can guess that would produce almost +7,44,640,000 per year just to start and using Colorado as the model state for population. Look at Florida, Texas or New York and you're talking 3 or 4 times as much.
In a little under 2 years we would be able to employ every man who wanted to help America repair its broken highways, railways and bridges. This would also in turn drop the unemployment rate by at least 3%, employing waitresses, lunch wagon drivers, construction workers, designers, architects, etc...
I realize everybody is scared about the what this will do to our innocent kids who never ever ever do drugs we don't know about, but we're all just as scared at them getting drunk and becoming alcoholics. The good news is that since kids could theoretically get their hands on weed just like a keg, use of harder drugs diminishes. Sure, you will always have the idiot who wants to go "trolling" or "Shrooming" while smoking pot, but they will be in the lower percentile.
In conclusion I wish to say that I am neither economist or politician, just looking at it all pragmatically and seeing a clear resolution. I know there are plenty of people who will never see eye to eye with me, that's ok. All I want to make you understand is that the legalization of Marijuana will not make your child more prone to smoking it, you ignoring your responsibility as a parent and leaving your child with no boundaries will.
Don't blame the pot, blame the parents.
