Was it right to legalize Marijuana?

With the new law of legalizing marijuana being passed, many individuals are still uneasy as to whether it should have been legalized or not. According to CNBC, marijuana should not have been legalized. This is because they believe that if marijuana were to be legalized, consumption of it would likely increase. Along with that would likely come health and community costs: increase in accidents due to motor impairment, increase in associated illnesses such as cancer, as is the case with cigarette smoking. Marijuana is not harmless, it is addictive, and it does affect the brain. Since legalization of marijuana for medical or general use would increase marijuana use rather than reduce it and it would lead to increased rates of addiction to marijuana among youth and adults. The biggest argument in the article is how the legalization of Marijuana adds taxes. According to the article, "if marijuana was legalized, the only way to eliminate its illegal trade would be to sell marijuana untaxed and unregulated to any willing buyer." because no buyer would be willing to buy taxed Marijuana.

I however disagree. I believe that legalizing marijuana was the right decision. I believe that this is because from an economic standpoint, there would be numerous benefits to legalizing Marijuana.  A new industry could emerge that would allow people to buy and sell marijuana without being sent to jail.  The illegal pot dealer that is currently making their money in the black market could possibly start a profitable business. They would already have a good amount of clients, which is a key to succeed in any business. Since Marijuana is no longer illegal, customers could receive their order from the mail legally since there is no need for drug trafficking anymore. This would create many jobs across the country, which will help the big problem of unemployment as well. Also, prisons are able to save a lot of money from not having to put Marijuana users in jail anymore. Moreover, if a marijuana distribution grew large enough, it could be registered and traded on an exchange which would mean that Marijuana could be taxed so that the government could benefit. Voluntary trade (cooperation) means that both gain. The person who is the buyer is giving up some money in return for the good or service, the seller is giving up to get the money. The exchange allows both parties to benefit from it, which means that they have both gained which suits this rule of human action and why legalizing Marijuana is the best choice because if it was not legalized, these benefits could not exist.