Legalization in Illinois

Marijuana legalization has taken over the media lately. Turn on the news and you are sure to see a story about Colorado, probably with a lame pun for the title. Go the internet and you can find countless statistics, facts, and news in regards to marijuana and its use in the nation. To put it simply, its everywhere. The Medical Marijuana Project's online website is a great place to go for this type of news. After looking around, I noticed a few things that made me scratch my head. First, In Illinois last years there were nearly 50,000 marijuana possession arrests. That is a ridiculous amount of money, time, and effort that the police took to arrest those people who were in possession of the plant. Second, and this is the one that gets me, 75% of Chicago murders went unsolved in the same year. Now those two statistics may not immediately feel connected, but they are. Say that marijuana was legalized in Illinois, then the time that the police took to arrest 50,000 people for minor crimes like marijuana possession would be spent on something that I deem much more important, catching murderers. It is really all about your priorities, and I prioritize catching murderers and rapists over a few stoners.