Cannabis has been in the world for many years yet there are disputes whether cannabis should be legalized or not. There have been many groups which support the legalization on cannabis but others disagree. Many major countries and cities such as Canada and Amsterdam allow the use of cannabis but only by a small dose. The UK still considers the drug as a Class B and legalization of the use of cannabis. Cannabis is used in the UK but only for the use of medicine. My research will show the positive and negative aspects towards cannabis and if it should be legalised in the UK or not.
Cannabis, from the hemp plant “cannabis sativa” is one of the most commonly used drug around the world. Cannabis causes various affects to the user. In small doses smoking cannabis creates effects which “relaxes” the user or in other words, make the user feel “high”. But using a greater concentration of cannabis can lead to hallucinations, cancer and psychotic illnesses. It can also control the users’ blood pressure, especially if the user suffers from heart or circulation problems. The main question is “Could cannabis be legalized in the UK”.
The UK classifies the drug as a Class B drug and is also used for medicine. The main reason why cannabis isn’t legalized in the UK is because of the psychotic behaviour it causes the user to have. The BBC article Cannabis ‘raises psychosis risk’ states “Cannabis users are 40% more likely than non-users to suffer a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, say UK experts. ” The article also states “experts said up to 800 schizophrenia cases a year in the UK could be linked to cannabis use”.
Cannabis has over 400 types of different, active chemicals which have various effects to the user. A certain group of chemicals called cannabinoids are harmful and are found in cannabis. Tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC is a very harmful chemical and is one of the oldest hallucinogenic drugs known. THC may cause the user to have a higher chance of having schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects the way a person acts, thinks, and sees the world. People with schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality, often a significant loss of contact with reality.
They may see or hear things that don’t exist, speak in strange or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they’re being constantly watched. With such a blurred line between the real and the imaginary, schizophrenia makes it difficult, even frightening to negotiate the activities of daily life. In response, people with schizophrenia may withdraw from the outside world or act out in confusion and fear. Also experts say that there is no diagnosing for the brain disorder. If cannabis is legalized in the UK, there will be more victims of schizophrenia, which will cost the government a lot.
The graph on the right shows the typical retail price of cannabis, and so far Britain has the second lowest price of cannabis per gram. But the data could be unreliable because the graph shows results from 2005 which proves that the graph is out of date and is from photo bucket a website were users can upload pictures/ images. Even though the statistics of the graph is out of date, this still shows that cannabis is cheap in the UK and is affordable for the use of medicine. And since most UK teenager like to be troublemakers, they would smoke more cannabis because it is against the law.
If cannabis is legalized in the UK, the government would not need to spend money on youth clubs and projects. If cannabis was legalized the police wouldn’t need to raid houses and spend money on arresting people who use cannabis. Instead, the government could use the money for making/ refurbishing areas of the UK make new schools & hospitals and also help the unfortunate. There are also other beneficial factors which can become real if cannabis became a legalised. One beneficial factor could be that teenagers might stop smocking cannabis.
As i have stated before, most teenagers have a thrill for breaking the law, and if cannabis becomes legal, less teenagers would use the drug. This could also prevent the youths from have psychotic behaviour for example schizophrenia. As I have mentioned before, cannabis is affordable and can be used for medicine. If cannabis was used for medicine, it may change the lives of millions. Researchers from the University of Alcala in the city of Madrid have tested the effects of some active cannabinoid chemicals which stops prostate cancer from duplication.
The cannabinoids used were called R(+)-Methanandamide (MET) and JWH-015. The article was written at the 24th August 2009. The article is reliable because the information is from a website about medicine and the news of medicine, the article was made not too long ago and also is updated now and then. If cannabis is legalized, it could help the victims of prostate cancer. The graph on the left shows cannabis or in this case, marijuana is less harmful and less addictive then other drugs/ substances. This is reliable because the graph is from a website which updates daily and support cannabis.
The graph on the right also shows how cannabis (in this case, marijuana) is safer than other drugs/ substances. This is also reliable because it is from the same website from before and also, the graph is made by experts. On the other hand, if cannabis was legalized, the numbers of people using cannabis will increase. The chance of a person becoming a victim of schizophrenia would gradually increase; hospitals would be full of patients and there will be gang crimes rising in the UK and this would cause more policing to be involved which would cause the banks of the government empty.
Cannabis will set the mind of many astray which will cause the users to do more dangerous and offensive crimes which will increase crime rates, maybe loss of police because the crimes done and also loss of millions of lives. Cannabis would risk young children, the innocent, the harmless and the elderly because of the users such as gangs, drug lords and psychotic adults. As well as more people being risked, dealers and drug users who were charged for breaking the cannabis law will be free to go without charge and might break more serious laws in the future.
If the drug also becomes legal, scientists will be able to make a new, less harmful generation of cannabis which could cure a more variety of illnesses. Children will be able to get the drug as easily as adults and use the drug which will affect their growth throughout their lives. Also tax payers and the government would not want their money to be spent on patients who have schizophrenia or people who have been harmed because of cannabis. Also, adults who use cannabis regularly might start to use other illegal drugs for example cocaine, LSD and heroin.
If cannabis stays a class B, illegal drug in the UK, less people will be risked and harmed by cannabis. The penalty for carrying the drug should increase because more on people are ending up in hospital because of issues with cannabis. However, there will be more people dealing/ using cannabis illegally. This would cause more headaches for the police force, there will be greater generations of cannabis which will have more THC for example, “White Skunk” one of the strongest cannabis on the streets so far.
In conclusion, I think cannabis should still be illegal because of a variety of reasons. There will be less chaos on the streets and there will be less people ending up in hospital and would save tax money which could be used for more useful things for example education. If it was legal, there would be more chaos in the streets of the UK, the police would be even more occupied then before and cannabis would risk millions of innocent people. On the other hand, only small doses of cannabis should be used, but only for the use of medicine.
