Following a public outcry over the case of Billy Caldwell, a 12-year-old boy with epilepsy who was prohibited from bringing back a life-changing supply of cannabis oil from Canada, the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes has now been made legal in the UK. Unsurprisingly this has re-ignited the ongoing question: should we legalise the recreational use of cannabis?
Recreational marijuana should be legal
Legalising marijuana would help to minimise its harms.
Access to medicinal cannabis is restricted
Currently, medicinal cannabis is only prescribed through the NHS is a child or adult has a rare form of epilepsy, or if an individual experiences vomiting or nausea as a result of chemotherapy. However, there are many other instances in which the use of cannabis is beneficial in alleviating certain side effects, such is the case for Lyme disease.
The composition of legal cannabis can be guaranteed by a trusted organization (a state or an association for example). Thus, the consumers will be protected from added substances present in street cannabis.
Legalizing marijuana would lessen the strain on police and prisons
A significant amount of resources are used to arrest and imprison people for marijuana offences. Legalizing marijuana will save the government time, money, space, and decrease racial injustice within prisons.
Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco
Alcohol and tobacco are legal, but cause far more deaths than marijuana. There is no reason marijuana should be illegal while alcohol and tobacco are legal.
No, cannabis should only be used for medical purposes.
The drug isn't valuable to society outside of medical use.
Marijuana is a gateway drug
Marijuana is a gateway drug. Those who try marijuana are more likely to try other, harder drugs. IT also increases a persons' vulnerability to addiction. Legalizing marijuana would lead to more people being addicted to dangerous and life-harming drugs.
The state should not be criminalizing people because of drug use as it is immoral and exacerbates existing social and health issues. Police should be targeting the people who distribute drugs as it goes hand-in-hand with other activities such as human traffiking and exploitation of vunerable people
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This page was last edited on Friday, 24 Jan 2020 at 15:55 UTC
