Should Cannabis be Legalised in the UK? - Harry Moore Would banning “semi-automatic assault rifles” dramatically reduce gun crime in the

Should Cannabis be Legalised in the UK? - Harry Moore

Cannabis is an illegal drug made from the cannabis plant. It can make one feel happy or relaxed but can also have the opposite effect of making one anxious and/or paranoid. THC is the main chemical in cannabis which changes your mood and behaviour and whilst some believe it is relatively harmless, others believe that it has a wide range of effects for users, the main one being the effect on your mental health due to the damage it does to a developing brain.

The legalisation of cannabis is a highly debated topic especially in the UK due to the pressure of the population and the successful tests of legalisation of cannabis in places such as Canada and states in the USA such as California. It is said that CBD, a chemical found in Cannabis has health benefits and can help those who suffer with epilepsy and anxiety. However, this has not been studied in depth and the effects are not truly known. Legalisation of cannabis can bring benefits such as an increased revenue for the Government due to the taxation of cannabis and it can be controlled to stop crime in this area as professional businesses would help protect its users from harm. However, there are some factors against the legalisation of cannabis, the main one being the health consequences it brings as all the effects are not known at this point.

Mental Health

A recent study has shown that the use of cannabis especially in teenagers can bring a range of mental health problems. Which is a big problem in our society with the increased pressure of social media and so the use of cannabis can bring increased risk of depression and the study has shown that use of cannabis brings a significantly higher risk of suicide attempt (Nicholls, 2019). As quoted by a Cannabis user: ‘Cannabis took over my life, it got to me to a point where I put it before my children, myself, my bills, I wish I never touched it.’ (Justice, 2018). The age of a user is also important while looking at the mental health effects of cannabis as the development from an adolescent to an adult brain is thought to end at around 25 years old. Therefore, cannabis can cause greatest harm whilst the users’ brain is in adolescence as it can affect the growth and can bring up mental health problems to the user. (Justice, 2018, p. 13)

Quality

One problem with illegal cannabis is that the substances in the cannabis are sometimes unknown and can cause further problems and illnesses as producers try and make them as cheap as possible. However, this is an argument for the legalisation of cannabis as the side effects of cannabis are minimalised by control by a government. A great example of this is Canada where cannabis has recently been legalised across the country, cannabis production is now state run and controlled to minimise health defects. For example, cannabis producers must follow Health Canada’s Good Production Practices (GPP). These include testing to ensure products don’t contain pesticides or mould, but do contain the promised levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). (Conversation, 2019). With these systems in place, statistics show that cannabis related illnesses have decreased significantly

since the legalisation of cannabis in Canada, and cannabis can easily be controlled by the government. With similar systems in place, the legalisation of cannabis in the UK means that side effects of cannabis can be reduced significantly and for those who choose to consume cannabis, it is far healthier, with less side effects but the same utility as purchasing it illegally.

Taxation

The legalisation of cannabis would greatly boost the UK’s economy and from an economics perspective so its legalization seems like an obvious choice to make, at least to an economist.(Teacher, 2019) This is because of the tax that would be imposed following the legalisation of cannabis, which can be represented using the example of tobacco and alcohol, which are both heavily taxed due to the implications it has on the user, such as the implications that cannabis would have. On a typical pack of twenty cigarettes, the total tax burden of £6.98 accounts for 82% of the retail price (TMA, 2017) so the taxation of cigarettes accounts for a great sum of money towards the government which can be allocated to improve other sectors of our society such as transport or education for example. By increasing the price of cannabis due to taxation, may also reduce the number of consumers of cannabis as the higher price signals to consumers that cannabis is relatively more expensive to buy, incentivising them to buy less as there is a lower utility per pound spent. Overall, the legalisation of cannabis would be beneficial to the government and the economy as a tax would be able to be imposed, increasing the revenue to the government. The potential benefit to the UK Treasury has been estimated to be as high as £1 billion. (Justice, 2018, p. 4). On the other hand, despite the economic advantages of legalising cannabis, there is no price on human life and the society should be the priority so some believe that the potential damage that legalising cannabis would cause is greater than the revenue brought in to the government. There are some solutions to this such as drug awareness events, to show the potential damage that cannabis has and to restrict the amount consumed to users, to prevent a high level of damage.

Addiction

Recent data suggests that 30 percent of those who use marijuana may have some degree of marijuana use disorder. (NIH, 2019) This can cause many problems such as dependency on the drug, cravings, withdrawal symptoms and mood and sleep difficulties. (NIH, 2019). However, as shown on the chart, cannabis is less addictive than tobacco and alcohol which are both legal. Tobacco is the most addictive substance as it has a dependency rate of 32% compared to cannabis which has a dependency rate of only 9% which is the same as caffeine, which is also legal, even to minors. This shows that addiction is a very small factor in determining weather cannabis should be legalised as it has a significantly lower dependency rate than tobacco and alcohol and despite the possibility of the symptoms of withdrawal, as mentioned previously, it is far more easy to stop using the drug compared with using alcohol and tobacco.

Phillip Boffey, writing in The New York Times, acknowledges that marijuana is not harmless, “but, on balance, its downsides are not reasons to impose criminal penalties on its possession, particularly not in a society that permits nicotine use and celebrates drinking.” (Boffey, 2014) and I think after my research I hold the same views as whilst there are obviously some clear reasons against the legalisation of cannabis in the UK, the main one being the problems it causes in respect of mental health, there is a vast majority of reasons for legalisation such as the tax from supplying it and the comparison with smoking and alcohol which not only are more addictive but also cause more health concerns, so with the correct rules and regulations, the legalisation, or the decriminalisation, of cannabis would be a benefit to the society in general. 14