| Product: |
Should cannabis be legalised? |
| Date: |
20.07.02 (115 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: It would make drug usage safer
Disadvantages: Might encourage more people to give it a try in the first place
Weed, hash, ganja, marijuana, call it what you like, there is just one fundamental question surrounding this substance. Should it be legalised? I’ve been pondering for a while about writing one of these opinions, after the recent change in the law (declassifying the drug) I thought now was as good a time as any to share my views on the matter.
Cannabis is the most widely used of all drugs. Many people have tried this drug at least once. Surely therefore it should be legalised?
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What is cannabis?
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The plant itself is a genus of a single species belonging to the order hemp.
Various parts of the plant are used for the drug. They can be smoked (most popular method), eaten, chewed, amongst other, less popular methods.
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Why is it so popular?
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Firstly its classed as being a lot safer than other drugs. No one has ever died from using this drug. The effects the drug has on the body is not as harsh as the ‘harder’ drugs such as heroin. The effect the drug has on your state of consciousness is also not as harsh as the other popular drugs such as ecstasy.
Unlike the other on the ‘market’ cannabis doesn’t cause any serious untoward affects on our bodies hence it’s a lot safer to use. I’m not saying that it doesn’t do any harm to our bodies though.
So apart from the fact that its safer, its also considered to be a fairly low grade drug. It was originally a class B drug now downgraded to a class C (well it will be in July 2003). This means that you can now be found with small amounts and you cannot be arrested. If you are found with a large amount then you can be arrested for being suspected of supplying the drug. Strangely though, its never been illegal to grow it yourself at home though. Why not I’m not entirely sure because why else wo
uld you be growing it?!
Those are the two main reasons why it’s so popular. People are wary of taking ecstasy and other such drugs because there HAS been deaths caused by them (take the case of the 10 year old girl found recently). If you are not sensible after taking these drugs you will, inevitably, come to some harm.
As yet the only known danger cannabis is known to cause is the effects of smoking. Of course you don’t have to smoke cannabis but this is the most popular method of using the drug. Hence if you mix it with tobacco you are putting yourself under exactly the same dangers as ‘normal’ smoking. Everyone knows about those dangers so I’ll not bother going in to those.
So far there is no other known danger with cannabis. There may well be some long term damage being done but as yet scientists have not found them. Until we do know of them this drug will increase in its popularity, you can guarantee that.
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Should we take a leaf out of other countries’ books?
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Amsterdam is the most ‘open’ country when you think about it. People are allowed to use drugs openly in the streets, prostitution is legal too. There are cafés solely designed for drug users over there. Surely this is safer than our back street alley way users over here?
In my opinion it makes far more sense in the 21st century to accept drugs as an every day occurrence in many peoples lives. We are NEVER going to be without drugs again. In 10 years from now there will be newer, ‘better’ drugs out there, more people will be using drugs on an everyday occurrence. It’ll be exactly the same as ‘normal’ smoking today. So, instead of going around with our eyes shut hoping the problem will go away why don’t we all wake up to what’s going
on around us. We have accepted smoking as a bad habit, why can’t we do the same with drugs? Of course I’m not saying we should welcome drug users with open arms and willingly sell children drugs, but what I am saying is that there will ALWAYS be a demand for drugs. At the moment it is considered ‘trendy’ to be seen using drugs (not by everyone I might add though!) in a few years from now (I’d say about 10-20 years) using drugs will have the same taboo as smoking does now. Everyone knows the dangers but those addicted tend to ignore them in a hope they’ll go away. No matter what we print on our cigarette boxes warning users of their dangers, if they don’t want to stop, they won’t, its as simple as that.
You may well have a completely different opinion to me on this but lets put it this way. <Hypothetical question coming up!>
Lets assume you had a child, they went off to high school and got in with the wrong crowd. You were worried about their influence on your child but you couldn’t really do much about it. One day you were vacuuming around your kids’ bedroom, you bent down to pick something up off the floor, you opened the nearest drawer to put the object in. There, staring back at you was a small piece of tin-foil. You thought it looked strange so you decided to take a peek. Inside there was some white powder. You took a slight smell, whatever it was, it wasn’t talcum powder!
You realise your child is using drugs. More and more evidence builds up. What do you do? You can’t just ignore it but you can’t really tackle the problem head-on because you know it won’t help at all.
Imagine your own child being a drug user. Nothing really heavy, just a ‘normal’ drug user. They used them as a recreational drug. Would you prefer your child to:
(a) go to some dodgy geeza in a long coat behind some bike sheds at night, on t
heir own to get their drugs. They could then use the drugs in a similarly secluded, dark and dismal alley way.
(b) Or would you prefer your child to pick up and use their drugs in a friendly, open manner in a public place?
Yes, I thought so.
Again, I must emphasise, I am not in any way saying drugs should be encouraged. All I am saying is that its safer for everyone involved if we started taking action against drug use rather than ignoring it in a hope it’ll go away.
I know the police are tackling the problem by going on dawn raids, checking clubs/raves, etc. but this isn’t working is it? They are only tackling the minority.
It should be fairly obvious by now that I think cannabis should be legalised. I strongly feel this country should be doing more in the fight against drugs. (‘Against’ is the wrong word though). Whatever the police have tried so far simply hasn’t and never will work in the long run. We have to face up to the simple fact that drugs will always be around, they’ll never go away. When its become less ‘trendy’ to use drugs in the coming decades there will still be users (just the same as with ‘normal’ smokers).
There is supposed to be the first cannabis café opening in Rhyl (about an hour away from where I live). Its supposed to be opening sometime in the coming weeks. There is a statement by the North Wales Police on the café’s website that they will be arrested as soon as its opened. Of course it does seem a little pointless opening the café, especially as it so openly admits that it is for drug users! However I do feel this is a step in the right direction.
Just so long as the users don’t push the general public, the shop/café is kept clean and tidy and its not too blatantly obvious what they’re doing (e.g. we don’t want to see people injecting themselves through the window as we walk past!) then
I’d have no real objections to the place. As long as they abide to cleanliness and safety then it certainly beats getting and using your drugs in a dark alley way.
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Conclusion
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Cannabis ISN’T as dangerous (as far as we are aware at the moment) as other drugs. It doesn’t necessarily lead on to harder drugs either. This latter point lies entirely with the users. If they want to try other drugs they will do so on their own accord, just because they’ve been using cannabis though doesn’t mean to say it will necessarily lead them to other drugs.
With long-term cannabis use there is a need to take more of the drug to get the same effects that it had when you first start using it, hence some people do try other, harder, drugs. Not all though.
No one has ever died as a direct result of using the drug.
As for myself, have I ever tried it?
Nope I haven’t. I’ve never taken any drugs (well none of the illegal variety!). I don’t smoke either.
Many of my friends from school were regular cannabis users though, they rarely touched other drugs (they ‘did’ ecstasy a few times though). They still haven’t moved on to harder drugs (I’m still in touch with some from school, they’ve been using cannabis since they were about 13, so, 5 years later this hasn’t led them on to other drugs). I’m not saying it won’t in the future though.
For more info check out www.cannabis.com, it must be said though, it is designed for users of the drug more than anything else but there is a comprehensive FAQ section if you’re interested.
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