The Dutch do it so why not? (Should cannabis be legalised?)

Member Name: tairrie

Product:	Should cannabis be legalised?
Date:	20/08/00 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: loads

Disadvantages: few

(note in advance: English is not my mother tongue, so please excuse any mistakes!!)

A number of reasons would speak for a legalization of cannabis and there is only one major reason given why it shouldn't be legalized being that it is (allegedly) the first step into drug addiction.

I want to mention just a few reasons why I think it should be legalized:

1. it does not create physical addiction
2. it is not as dangerous to your health as some legal drugs e.g. alcohol
3. in some cases it can even be used as medicine (lack of appetite that comes along with some diseases, etc.)
4. it is not chemical, which means I KNOW what's in it
5. low-THC hemp can be used for loads of other things (cloth, paper, oil, etc.) but is not grown either because the ban affects it as well
6. smoking cannabis usually has a positive effect on the mood, it usually doesn't make you aggressive or depressed like alcohol
7. as long as it's not legal soft drug consumers will always get in touch with people selling hard drugs so it could thereby actually lead you to take harder drugs
8. there's much more money to be made for drug dealers if it stays illegal
9. it works in the Netherlands
10. maybe legalization would even bring taxes

Why should "normal" people be incriminated and get in touch with dubious circles just because they want to consume a harmless herbal drug? Okay, harmless is relative because every drug is dangerous if we exaggerate it but that should be up to the individual to decide. Alcohol for example is much more dangerous, so is nicotine but they're still legal and a most welcome source of tax money for the state, even if people die or become severely ill (which costs the health system a lot of money!). So why is there a difference? Cultural acceptance seems to be the word here...in the past there have been attempts to ban alcohol but we all know how that went in the US back
then. Only the criminals really profitted. It's the same thing with cannabis.
I really think it's about time!

Summary: