It is already proven that cannabis is no worse a drug than alcohol or cigarettes, so why should it be illegal when these are widely available to buy?

The cost to the public through inconsistent and harsh punishment of people charged with cannabis related offences is also huge. Most of these cases get dropped, meaning time and resources have been wasted when they could have been used more effectivey somewhere else. Shouldn't the police be focussed on dealing with other crimes rather than having to arrest people who have done nothing other than use recreational cannabis?

Another issue is public safety. The Government say that cannabis is a risk to health, but by making it illegal, people have to buy it from drug dealers rather than licensed shops, creating a bigger risk to health as there is no control over what the product will actually contain. Therefore it would be better that cannabis was legalised so that people knew what they were buying and the risks could be minimised.

It makes no sense to keep cannabis as illegal. People are just going to use it regardless of its legality anyway.