Marijuana prohibition is unique among American criminal laws. No other law is both enforced so widely and harshly and yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the populace.
Police make about 700,000 arrests per year for marijuana offenses. That's almost the same number as are arrested each year for cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and all other illicit drugs combined. Roughly 600,000, or 87 percent, of marijuana arrests are for nothing more than possession of small amounts. Millions of Americans have never been arrested or convicted of any criminal offense except this. Enforcing marijuana laws costs an estimated $10-15 billion in direct costs alone.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1188083/posts
California has saved BILLIONS since decriminalization in 1976.
ALSO, California has saved 600 million this past year recently because we did not need to house marijuana offenders who make up a great majority of people in jail.
we dont have to keep people in jail for weed so we dont need the prisons.
http://www.mpp.org/archive/97strat.html