The Legalization Of Cannabis

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

-The Fact about cannabis and Reason Why cannabis has to be legal-

12101174 Sung Nakki

Submit : 30 June 2002

1. Introduction

Society is made by human. In society, human makes rules, and follow rules that they made for maintaining society. If rule is not necessary, however, for maintaining society, it needs to exist? In this case, I think, rule has to be changed.

In most society, cannabis is illegal, namely LAW says, it has to be banned for maintaining society. But, after finding material about cannabis, I concluded cannabis is not a frightful thing like tobacco and alcohol. Also, it will not be element of breaking society, even if it becomes legal. And, there are no reason cannabis has to be illegal, if tobacco and alcohol are legal. Not only that, cannabis also has possibility to be used for vast industrial stuff and medicine. Why cannot we use cannabis?

2. Body

2.1 The Fact about cannabis

June 18, 1998 French medical institute INSERM reported harmful about Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis etc.. It is part of that report.

Heroin.

Alcohol

Tobacco

Cannabis

Depending on Physical

Very Strong

Very Strong

Strong

Weak

Depending on Sprite

Very Strong

Very Strong

Very Strong

Weak

Toxicity to nerve

Weak

Strong

None

None

Common Toxicity

Strong

Strong

Very Strong

Very Weak

Danger to social behavior

Very Strong

Strong

None

Weak

As you can see, cannabis has weak effect on ‘depending on physical, sprite, danger to social behavior’ and very week effect on ‘Common Toxicity’. Please, compare with Alcohol and Tobacco. Maybe, you realize easily which thing is more harmful for human. Most of people think cannabis is more harmful than Alcohol or Tobacco. But, It is not true.

In a news, -"The report again shows that the basis [for policies prohibiting marijuana] is totally wrong," spokesman for the Greens party announced. -1) 2)

2.2 When and how does bias made.

Why does most of person think cannabis is more harmful than Alcohol or Tobacco? Depending on material, American media propagated numerous false stories about cannabis and explained as an extremely dangerous drug. Because, cannabis has high productivity to making paper, So, American Paper Company did a lobbying activity for banning cannabis. Actually, One acre of cannabis will produce as much paper as four acres of trees. 2) 3)

2.3 Responsibility and Free Will of individual

As you know, Alcohol and Tobacco is legal even though everybody knows it is harmful. Because, Society respect person’s responsibility and free will. Society believe even those are bad for body; people will enjoy those depending on their responsibility. If so, why does more non-harmful cannabis has to be banned? Cannabis also has to be legal. People can enjoy cannabis depending on their responsibility and free will. I do not agree Heroin or something like that will be legal. Because, most of people cannot enjoy, maybe they will be a living dead. But Cannabis is different thing. People can enjoy Cannabis like Alcohol or Tobacco. Cannabis is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 80 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 20 million Americans have smoked cannabis in the past year, and more than 11 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use. 4)

2.4 Arresting as using cannabis

Many of person are being arrested cause they used cannabis. Someone who use cannabis is not a murder or thief. Most of them are ordinary person like who are living your next door. They just enjoyed cannabis which more non-harmful than Alcohol and Tobacco. 12 million citizens have been arrested on cannabis charges in the U.S. since 1965. For preventing such thing, cannabis has to be legal. 5)

2.5 Opinion about banning cannabis

Until now, I only talked about cannabis has to be legal. But, there are another opinions ‘cannabis has to be banned’. I found one homepage, which insist cannabis has to be banned. I summary one article that talk about why cannabis has to be banned. 6)

1. Marijuana is a powerful drug with a variety of effects. Marijuana users are subject to a variety of adverse health consequences:

Respiratory Damage

Physical Coordination

Pregnancy & Post-Natal development

Memory & Cognition

Psychiatric Effects

2. There are crimes in illegal Marijuana market.

3. Countries that have liberalized drugs have highest rate of illicit drug

4. As legalization and permissiveness will increase drug use and abuse substantially, the costs of health care, prevention, productivity loss and enforcement will increase proportionately.

2.6 Counterargument

About Number 1. Right, Cannabis has bad effect on body. But, as you read in first page, it does not have bad effect like alcohol or tobacco those are legal.

About Number 2. Right, maybe there are many crimes in illegal market. But, if it is changed to legal market, government will be able to control that.

About Number 3. Right, if country has liberalized idea about drugs, illicit drug user will grow up. I also hope government does not have liberalized idea about drugs. But, cannabis is drug? If drug has high dependence (hardly can stop using), destroy body, etc. Alcohol and Tobacco is more similar to drug than cannabis. About 7%-9% of marijuana users agree with ""I've tried to cut back but don't seem to be able to", which should be compared with the 80% of smokers who agree. And, much person concern about legalization of cannabis will be a gateway to harder drug. But, the Netherlands legalized marijuana in the 1970s; since then, hard drug use (heroin and cocaine) has declined substantially. And, studies done in the early 1970s showed a negative relation between use of marijuana and use of alcohol. Cannabis tends to substitute for the much more dangerous hard drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.7) 8) 9)

About Number 4. I don’t agree this sentence. Legalization of cannabis has not increasing other harder drug use like cocaine and heroin. And, they also have to think how much money is using for preventing cannabis use.

Actually, I also agree to do activity for reducing use of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, etc. Not only that, they also try to prevent children drug use. I really agree this activity. But, I hardly agree their idea about legalization of cannabis.

2.7 Wasting money for preventing cannabis use

How much money is using for preventing cannabis use? In America, enforcing cannabis prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 734,000 individuals per year-far more than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Illegality of cannabis is a tremendous waste of national and state criminal justice resources that should be focused on combating serious and violent crime. In addition, it invites government unnecessarily into areas of our private lives, and needlessly damages the lives and careers of hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens. 4)

2.8 Benefit of Cannabis

2.8.1 Industrial stuff

Now, talk about benefit of cannabis. Cannabis has vast industrial applications. As you read, cannabis can be used for making paper with high productivity. The following materials can be made from cannabis: paper, textiles, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel. Unlike many crops, cannabis can be grown in most locations and climates with only moderate water and fertilizer requirements. Where hemp is grown, it has become a valuable and environmentally friendly crop. 10)

2.8.2 For making paper

In case of paper, we have used tree for making paper. Why can't we just keep using trees? In Fact, the chemicals used to make wood chemical pulp paper today could cause us a lot of trouble tomorrow. Environmentalists have been concerned about the effects of dioxin and other compounds on wildlife and even people. Beyond the chemical pollution, there are agricultural reasons why we should use cannabis hemp instead. When trees are harvested, minerals are taken with them. Hemp is much less damaging to the land where it is grown because it leaves these minerals behind. 11)

2.8.3 Using for medicine.

Cannabis also can be used for medicine. It has thousands of possible uses in medicine. Cannabis was available as a medicine legally until 1937 in U.S.A, and was sold as a nerve tonic. Cannabis can be used as a medicine to treat nausea, pain and muscles spasms. It alleviates symptoms of glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, aids, migraines and other debilitating elements. There are over 60 chemicals in cannabis, which may have medical uses. It is relatively easy to extract these into food or beverage, or into some sort of lotion, using butter, fat, oil, or alcohol. One chemical, cannabinol, may be useful to help people who cannot sleep. Another is taken from premature buds and is called cannabidiolic acid. It is a powerful disinfectant. Marijuana dissolved in rubbing alcohol helps people with the skin disease herpes control their sores, and a salve like this was one of the earliest medical uses for cannabis. The leaves were once used in bandages and a relaxing non-psychoactive herbal tea can be made from small cannabis stems. 11) 12)

If cannabis is illegal, we cannot use cannabis for industrial applications and medicine. It is another big reason why cannabis has to be legal.

2.9. Banning cannabis will decrease crime?

And, banning cannabis will decrease crime? I found some interesting table.

Source: U S Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 1, Washington, D C. (1975. o 441)

The murder rate rose with the start of Prohibition, remained high during Prohibition, and then declined when Prohibition ended. I think it also can apply to cannabis. And as we learn in class, prohibition just increase gangster’s power, cause they sell prohibition goods, and get an enormous profit from it. 13)

2.10 Worry about legalization of cannabis

Last, someone worry about if cannabis become legal, user of cannabis will dramatically increase. But, actually, ‘prohibition of cannabis’ increases user. In 1985, 5.5 percent of American high school seniors used marijuana daily, but in the Netherlands which cannabis is legal the rate was only 0.5 percent. Even though, momentarily, users of cannabis increases when legalization of cannabis starts, consequently, users of cannabis will decrease. There are exist one kind of human mind, if you are told ‘don’t do it’, you really want to do it. 14)

3. Conclusion

Cannabis has to be legal. Not only for protecting personal right, but also for using cannabis to make medicine and many useful things-paper, clothes, etc.-. Tobacco and Alcohol those more dangerous than cannabis are legal. Why is cannabis still illegal? Problem is there are many biases to cannabis. I found one Japanese homepage, which insist legalization of cannabis. In that homepage, they survey ‘is there any good idea for legalization of cannabis?’ In many answers, they worry about common person’s bias to cannabis, so, have to inform cannabis is not so harmfulness like tobacco or alcohol, firstly. Cannabis is also one of enjoyable things under control of personal responsibility. And, it is not harmful like Tobacco or Alcohol. More then 400,000 Americans die from diseases related to cigarette smoking each year. More than 150,000 Americans die of alcohol abuse each year. But in 10,000 years of usage, no one has ever died from smoking cannabis. Also, there are so many worry about if cannabis becomes legal, the user of cannabis will be increase, and it will be a gateway of other drug. But, as you read in article, it is not true. Not only that, using cannabis decrease use of alcohol. The British government is thinking about legalization of cannabis. I agree with it. But, before doing legalization, they also have to think how to control selling, and rule for using, like where cannabis smoker can smoke or limitation of age, etc. 3) 9) 14)