Legalizing Marijuana

The debate about the legalization of marijuana has been heating up in recent times, as most people are aware of. I decided to read articles from both viewpoints to gain better insight on the topic. One article I found was on time.com. It discussed the economic benefits of legalizing marijuana. The article made several good points about the benefits of decriminalizing the product.
“We spend $68 billion per year on corrections, and one-third of those being corrected are serving time for nonviolent drug crimes. We also spend about $150 billion on policing and courts, and 47.5% of all drug arrests are marijuana-related. Joe Klein Makes an awful good point that it is an awful lot of money that could be spent on better schools or infrastructure — or simply returned to the public. He also highlights the ability to tax the product and possibly bring in millions of currently wasted dollars. He fails however, to discuss the health hazards of marijuana. Maybe he is assuming that most people know smoke and carcinogens are not good for people.
The next article I read was against the legalization of marijuana. The article listed many reasons why the drug should not be legal in the states. Reasons like the gateway theory, increased crime rates, moral issues, increases in child use, physical damage and increased second hand smoke issues. After reading both articles and using my prior knowledge of the subject I still agree mainly with the article for the legalization. Studies have shown results that debunk most of the negative myths. The biggest question I see at hand is the economic impact. Some questions have been brought forth about changing such a huge economic system and its effect on the world. Right now the world seems to co-exist with the drug world and almost depends on it. And while there is no doubt that we are wasting money prosecuting people for this non-violent crime, the system currently operates and co-exists with the underground trade of the drug. Making the production and sale of such a highly profitable illegal business legal makes the current operation susceptible to the corporate and industrial world that seems to be ruining this nation currently. The best argument that could be surmounted against the legalization besides the possible negative economic impacts would be from a health standpoint. But if we look at cigarettes and alcohol comparatively to marijuana, the argument is ludicrous. Hell, even the food industry through cancer and diabetes could be held accountable for more deaths that marijuana has ever been proved to cause.