1: Police Unions<\/p>\n
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Police unions are major contributors to the anti-legalization movement. This is most likely because a major stand-down in the War on Drugs would upset mammoth sources of police funding.<\/p>\n
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Police get over 2 billion dollars a year from the DEA to be foot soldiers for the war on drugs.<\/p>\n
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2:Big Beer \u00a0Donated \u00a0more money to be anti-weed groups than any other industry.. because they don\u2019t want everyone to realize weed is better than beer.<\/p>\n
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3:Private Prisons<\/p>\n
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Marijuana legalization could affect the number of people sentenced, thus reducing the need for correctional facilities. In 2008 a prison union fought a law that would have shortened parole for drug offenders. It cost them 1 million dollars.<\/p>\n
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4: The Pill Pushers<\/p>\n
Big pharma funds \u201canti drug\u201d education that focuses on weed and glosses over pills. It keep scientists on the payroll who make claims like, \u201cmarijuana causes psychosis.\u201d While many people suffer adverse reactions from prescription medications, there are virtually none from marijuana. Because who would use addictive painkillers when you could just smoke weed?<\/p>\n
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5: Drug Cartels<\/p>\n
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The drug cartels want to keep it illegal because of the high profits. While there are risks involved, as with any business, the fines, incarcerations, and, of course, the confiscating of shipments, the fact that it’s a “tax-free” industry makes it highly profitable.<\/p>\n
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6: The Legal Profession<\/p>\n
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The legal profession also enjoys the current status, aside from the profit motivations. Lawyers used in defending drug traffickers and even end users reap a lot of profit as the courts are jammed with more cases. How many other judges are out there that are all too happy to incarcerate that are getting kickbacks from the privatized prison system?<\/p>\n