This article is a little bit different to my other posts mainly because i'm not going into Ideology or Philosophy, but rather looking at the myths and often over-exaggerations around Legalising Cannabis use. I'm fortune to live in Scotland, a country where even though Cannabis is illegal on paper, the Police generally don't care if you are using it for personal use. The only times in my experience they seem to care is when you are in direct proximity to children or young adults under 17 years old. If you are caught smoking it in such proximity, the police will just move you to a location further away and won't even bother confiscating it. But i digress, in this i want to disprove 3 of the most common arguments against legalisation and why cannabis should at the absolute least be decriminalised both recreationally and Medically.
"Cannabis is a gateway drug": This myth stems from the idea that those who develop a tolerance to weed will look to harder drugs to fuel the high, however there is a very blatant flaw in this argument. If Cannabis is to be legalised and sold in regulated dispensaries away from the black market where you can go to a shady ass person in the street that sells cannabis, coke and meth. Which is safer the illegal black market option OR the dispensaries that not only keep track of the Cannabis being sold but the strength of it, as well as only selling cannabis based products. The clear winner in this is the legal alternative with dispensaries.
"Cannabis is much stronger than it used to be": Although this is true, as Cannabis sold in the 60's only on average contained about 4% THC, versus nowadays where the average is 12% THC with very little CBD in the bud. The fact of the matter is, is that with regulation can come breeding the plant to be weaker, Cannabis cultivation in regards to THC is not something that can only go one way, it can go back down to what it was. Second of all, what this argument tends to lead towards is the claim that high THC Cannabis can lead to Psychosis, however studies have only shown that to be the case in those who smoke too much cannabis daily and already have signs of Psychosis before they started smoking. Not to mention over the past 50-60 years although the % of the Population who smoke Cannabis has gone up, the amount of people with Psychosis has remained stable.
"Cannabis is unhealthy and addictive": Cannabis is addictive, i am not going to claim that it isn't at all but in comparison to substances that remain LEGAL in most Countries like Tobacco and Alcohol, It's not as addictive. 10% of those who try Cannabis will become psychologically dependent on it, whilst 16% of those who try Alcohol will become Alcoholics and 32% of those who try Tobacco will become smokers (Lachenmeier DW et al, 2015). On the Unhealthy side, older studies claimed that Cannabis lead to lower IQ, Lung issues and increased blood pressure, however more recent studies that looked into these correlations showed the data to be somewhat inconclusive overall. Newer studies show that in regards to reduced IQ, a combination may be at play between Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis, not just Cannabis alone. As well as there being studies that link Cannabis use to increased levels of gum disease. Most studies are peer-reviews of studies done in Countries that have legalised Cannabis and thus more practical studies have to be done, but in order to run trials and studies the government needs to Legalise it so that it can be tested according to law and ethical practices.
The question of legalisation is coming up in media in the UK, and it's not a new argument we've had at least 2 other parliamentary debates over the issue. "End Our Pain" which is a campaign group aiming to Legalise Cannabis use for Medicinal use has outlined many MPs (Member of Parliament) in the UK, across all parties that are in favour of Legalisation including Vince Cable (LD), Joanna Cherry (SNP), Laura Pidcock (Lab), Henry Smith (Conservative), Bob Stewart (Con), Tommy Sheppard (SNP), Ben Lake (Plaid) and Caroline Lucas (Green) to name a few. More than 60% of the British public polled are in favour of Cannabis legalisation, a % that has doubled over the past couple of years. Many of those suffering from illnesses in the UK that cannabis has been proven to help are praying that they can be 3rd times the charm, and on the 3rd debate on the issue we can legalise it once and for all.
-- Further Reading on the issue --
End our Pain: https://endourpain.org/
NORML-UK: http://norml-uk.org/
CLEAR UK: https://www.clear-uk.org/