Cannabis Should Be Legal

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Cannabis should be legal. Not a phrase you’d expect to hear often in today’s society where from a young age we are told drugs are bad and all cause serious harm in one form or another. For the most part this is true; however in recent years new evidence suggests that actually cannabis is no worse for you than alcohol and cigarettes (both legal substances.) In fact it is believed that cannabis itself is safer. Donald Tashkin, the world’s leading cannabis expert who has done over 30 years of research had this to say: “Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects. But at this point, I’d be in favour of legalization. I wouldn’t encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don’t think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm.” Cannabis use dates back to further than seven-thousand B.C and has been illegal for less than 1% of the time it has been in use. Alcoholic beverages are deeply enrooted in our modern day culture too. Imagine if the government passed a law to say that alcohol was to be illegal, it would seem ridiculous and there would be mass protest. So why is it that a substance which does less harm, causes less problems, and is less addictive, illegal? This alone outlines how absurd it is that cannabis is currently illegal. Like most substances it does have its less desirable side effects, that much is undeniable, just as it is with alcohol and cigarettes, however it is clear after research that the potential benefits of legalization out-weigh any reasons to keep it illegal. It has to be accepted that the idea of cannabis being eliminated entirely from the UK is nothing more
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