The Leaf THE LEAF July-August 2019 | Page 27

They also argue that the regulation of marijuana sales makes it safer for consumers and provides a steady stream of new revenue for cash-strapped states. The Economic magazine wrote in 2014 that decriminalization makes sense only, as it put it, as a step toward full legalization because under the former only criminals would profit from a product that remains outlawed. According to The Economist: "Decriminalisation is only half the answer. As long as supplying drugs remains illegal, the business will remain a criminal monopoly. Jamaica’s gangsters will continue to enjoy total control over the Ganja market. They will go on corrupting police, murdering their rivals and pushing their products to children. People who buy cocaine in Portugal face no criminal consequences, but their euros still end up paying the wages of the thugs who saw off heads in Latin America. For the producer countries, going easy on drug-users while insisting that the product remain illegal is the worst of all worlds." https://www.thoughtco.com/decriminalization- versus-legalization-of-marijuana- 3368393?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soci al&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons