For many years, Marijuana has been illegal in the UK. However, many people like me believe that it should be legal. Therefore, you may ask why should weed be legal. Cigarettes are legal in the UK even though they cause cancer of the lungs but weed is quite the opposite, it kills cancer cells. Therefore, why hasn’t the government banned cigarettes and legalized weed.
Marijuana is also 114 times safer than alcohol. Alcohol causes liver problems and yet is still legal. Marijuana reduces crime by 15 percent as it chills people out and makes them hungry so that means more money goes to local shops and businesses which is helping the economy. In addition, unlike cocaine and cigarettes, dope is not as addictive. If we legalized cannabis, up to £900m could be raised annually in taxes, according to the Institute for Economic Research. States such as Colorado, which have legalized cannabis, have seen increased tax revenues. Many people now believe that smoking weed is safe – and no longer worry that a puff on a joint will either kill them or turn them into a murdering psychopath.
In American states such as Colorado, where cannabis has been legalized, thousands of jobs have been created. Loads of people now work in the area’s cannabis industry. Barack Obama, who freely admits to having smoked dope in his youth, this week, gave his support for a legalization bill in the U.S.A. A cancer patient claims to have been cured by cannabis. David Hobbit had been told he only had 18 months to live but now he’s looking forward to life and is about to get married after being given the all clear.
The government could always set an age limit on marijuana use, with stricter controls on whether younger people can buy marijuana. Marijuana should be the human right of everyone who wants to take it as it doesn’t harm anyone or interfere with government activities. Marijuana could be much better regulated if it was legal, observed Arkady Bukh, a criminal defence lawyer in New York. “Stores and marijuana age restrictions can card kids and prevent youth marijuana use, while people who illegally sell marijuana don't do that.” Many people are arrested for marijuana possession, and they might end up in jail, which will cost the government millions. The costs associated with enforcing this ban includes arrests.
Prohibition also hurts the economy in terms of lost wages and people with criminal records have a harder time finding a job and getting the education they need. On the other hand, legalizing, taxing, and regulating is good for the economy and creates jobs. By simply putting a tax on marijuana as we do cigarettes and alcohol, state and local governments could raise more than 6 billion pounds. This does not even include additional money from taxes on the marijuana industry.
“Legalizing marijuana will also reduce racism according to the laws currently prohibiting marijuana possession in the United States which owes a lot to the sinister legacy of racist opportunists. Efforts to establish and emphasize an association between non-whites and marijuana began as soon as the drug’s recreational use was introduced by Mexican immigrants in the early 1900s.” Anti-drug activists used this excuse to blame those of colour suggesting the colour or race you belong to determines who would be likely to take drugs. Therefore, they used this to cause fear mongering. American politicians also targeted minorities and did the same so racism is justified by those against drug abuse in many states. Given the inevitable damage this attitude has done, it is not hard to work out the high instance of arrests linked to race and marijuana. In the first three months of 2018, for example, of the more than 4,000 people arrested in New York City alone for marijuana possession, less than 300 were white, according to a report in the New York Times. “In Manhattan, per the same report, Black people are picked up by cops on petty marijuana charges at 15 times the rate of whites.'
Therefore, in conclusion legalizing weed will not only boost the economy, help with doctor's research against cancer, reduce racism and police brutality against non-whites but it will also reduce crime and billions spent on drug convicts will be cut.