Shall We Legalize Marijuana ?

1.So first, countries do have a responsibility to respect individual free will and the right of self-determination.

Nowadays, we can contemplate that legal prohibition doesn’t stop consumers from consuming drugs. It doesn’t stop traffickers from producing and selling it. Indeed, in 2011, in France, more than 5 million people consume cannabis .

Claims that marijuana prohibition is a successful policy are unsupported by the facts, and the idea that marijuana will soon be eliminated from France and the rest of the world is a ridiculous fantasy. It is merely a hypocrite utopia.

Indeed, we commonly think that preventing people from doing something, with so many punishments could be a solution. But we should all bear in mind that the more we feel prisoner, the more we aspire to freedom!

For example, there are a lot of lessons/from alcohol policy/ for drug policy. Alcohol’s prohibition in the US between 1920 and 1933 for example has set off a debate in the whole world. But finally, the government legalised it. Why? Because alcohol’s prohibition was a blatant violation of our liberties and it is the same case for marijuana’s prohibition.

2. Now let’s deal with the pros of this plant for our health and our economy

Let’s take an example: We use to compare cannabis with alcohol. And it is scientifically proven that alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis.

It has been proven by professor David Nutt, chairman of the British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. According to him, alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis and if the former is totally legal in our societies, the latter is largely prohibited. And it is totally illogical.

Another study sets forth that a direct comparison of alcohol and cannabis showed that alcohol was considered to be more “than twice as harmful as cannabis to users, and five times more harmful as cannabis to the society” . Thus, marijuana is not a lethal drug and is safer than alcohol.

Besides, Marijuana has so many medical values. Indeed, marijuana provides relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, and other symptoms for many individuals who have not been treated successfully with conventional medications. Marijuana use is the result of informed consent in which people have decided that the benefits of its use exceed the risks. That’s why so many countries have legalized Marijuana for its medical use.

Moreover, marijuana could be an economic outlet for our societies. Indeed, marijuana is very expensive for our economic and justice system and thus, should be taxed in order to increase our GNP. Besides, I think that the French police has more important responsibilities than arresting thousands of individuals a year for marijuana possession. These arrests make justice very expensive, by wasting jail space or by wasting the time of the police.

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