Cannabis, Legalisation of: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

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Intro to Debatabase Discuss topic
Summary: Should Cannabis/Marijuana be legalised?
Debatabase Junior
Contributing Topics
Introduction
Commission Topics
Author:Jern-Fei Ng ( Singapore ) Jern-Fei was a former Octo-Finalist at the World Universities'
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Debating Championships and the former Director of Debating of the Cambridge Union Society. He is
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Created: Tuesday, November 07, 2000
Last Modified: Monday, March 14, 2011

Context
The debate regarding the legalisation of drugs, particularly that of soft drugs like cannabis (or marijuana)
is capable of being characterised as one which pits the concept of freedom of the individual against the
concept of a paternalistic State. Advocates of legalisation argue, amongst other things, that cannabis is
not only less harmful than legal substances like alcohol and tobacco, but as a matter of fact has been
proven to possess certain medicinal properties. In stark contrast, those opposed to legalisation argue
that the legalisation of cannabis will act as a precursor to increased addiction to hard drugs, and will
necessarily lead to an increase in the crime rate itself.

Arguments

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Pros
Although cannabis does indeed have some harmful
effects, it is no more harmful than legal substances
like alcohol and tobacco. As a matter of fact, research
by the British Medical Association shows that nicotine
is far more addictive than cannabis. Furthermore, the
consumption of alcohol and the smoking of cigarettes
cause more deaths per year than does the use of
cannabis (e.g. through lung cancer, stomach ulcers,
accidents caused by drink driving etc.). The
legalisation of cannabis will remove an anomaly in the
law whereby substances that are more dangerous
than cannabis are legal whilst the possession and use
of cannabis remains unlawful.
Cons
Unlike alcohol and tobacco, cannabis has a
hallucinatory effect on the mind. This is inherently
dangerous in itself. Furthermore, just like other drugs,
there are many individuals addicted to cannabis who
will resort to crime in order to fund their addiction. The
legalisation of cannabis will lead to the drug becoming
more readily available, which in turn will mean that
many more people will gain access to it. This will
subsequently lead to an increase in the crime rate.
Initial statistics from the Netherlands shows that the
decriminalisation and eventual legalisation of cannabis
did led to an increase in crime in Dutch society.

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In recent years, scientists and medical researchers
have discovered that cannabis possesses certain
medicinal qualities that are beneficial. For instance, it
is now acknowledged that the use of cannabis helps
to relieve the suffering of patients afflicted with
multiple sclerosis (MS). The latest research that was
conducted by the Complutense University in Madrid
indicates that cannabis has the potential to kill
cancerous ‘glioma’ cells. Governments should
acknowledge such findings and legalise cannabis in
order to alleviate the pain of patients who are afflicted
with such diseases.
Individuals should be given the freedom to lead their
lives as they choose. Of course, such freedom is not
absolute and laws should intervene to limit this
freedom, especially when the rights of others are
infringed. In the case of the use of cannabis, it is a
victimless crime, insofar as nobody other than the user
him/herself experiences the effects of the use of the
substance. Hence, the State should not act in a
paternalistic fashion by legislating against something
which harms only the actual user.
The US and the UK governments have been at the
forefront in supporting scientific researches into the
utility of cannabis as a medical product. However,
even though evidence may show that the legalisation
of cannabis will bring about relief for sufferers of,
amongst others, MS, we should exercise caution
against legalising it because the use of cannabis itself
also brings about harmful side-effects. More
importantly, it is submitted that the legalisation of
cannabis will give rise to a host of social problems.
The detriments of legalisation far outweighs its
benefits. We can thus safely say that the present
approach represents the most proportionate response
to the issue at hand.
The State is justified in introducing legislation to
prevent individuals from causing harm to themselves.
For instance, in many countries, there are laws
requiring the wearing of seatbelts in cars. Moreover,
as this has article has pointed out, the use of cannabis
does lead to medically and socially harmful effects
which affect the other members of society.

There is no empirical evidence to suggest that the use The legalisation of cannabis will lead to users moving

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Cannabis, Legalisation of: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

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of cannabis will necessarily lead users onto more
dangerous narcotic substances. It is undeniable that
there are a large number of people who use the drug
despite it being unlawful to do so. Rather than turn
away from this problem, the government should
instead face up to reality. The legalisation of cannabis
will enable the government to regulate its use thereby
protecting its many users from harmful abuse of the
substance.
Presently, cannabis is sold by dealers who have
connections with the underworld. The legalisation of
cannabis will help facilitate the sale of the drug in
establishments like Amsterdam’s "coffee houses". This
will shift the sale of cannabis away from the criminal
underworld. The severance of this ‘criminal link’ will
ensure that the users of the drug no longer need to
come into contact with organised crime.
on to using harder drugs like morphine and cocaine.
This would ultimately lead to an increase in social ills
in the community as well as the need to spend more
State funds on rehabilitation programmes.
It is not inconceivable that the same criminal elements
who now sell cannabis will, when the drug is legalised,
diversify its business and set up "coffee houses"
themselves. In effect this will do nothing to separate
the sale of cannabis from the criminal underworld.
Conversely, it will give them a legitimate base from
which to operate their activities.

Motions
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This house believes that cannabis should be legalised
This house supports the legalisation of drugs
This house advocates change in our present drugs policy
Legalise Cannabis Alliance
IDMU (Independent Drug Monitoring Unit - UK)
Transform (The Campaign for Effective Drug Policy)
The Drug Refrom Coordination Network
Reducing the Harms of Cannabis Use (The policy debate in Australia
CNN article on the situation in California
NORML - National Organisation for Reform of Marijuana Laws
Report on the debate in Morocco
LA Times debate in US Federal responses to changing state policies on drug use
CATO Institute: The Politics and Science of Medical Marijuana

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Useful Books
Cannabis Culture – a Journey through Disputed Territory
By: Pattrick Matthews
Cannabis – the Genus Cannabis
By: David Brown
The 2004 cannabis law reforms in Western Australia and the United Kingdom:: A case of too much caution?
By: Greg Swensen
Cannabis And Young People: Reviewing the Evidence
By: Richard Jenkins
Opposing Viewpoints Series - Marijuana
By:
Editor: Jamuna Carroll
Marijuana (At Issue Series)
By: Arthur Gillard

Themes
Moral and Religious

Discuss
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Author Post

Alexnicole Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 07:54 pm

Member
I believe this should be leaglized. There are many good things that would come out of
this, but yet many bad things. One good thing is that, people wouldn't go to jail for
carrying it, and we could actually hold the people who need to be in jail, in jail. But
one negative effect would be, as you know, if it is legal, that means taxes up the ass.
It's better for you than alcohol, and if it was legal, should probably be treated about
the same as alcohol.

katastrophia_13 Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:03 pm

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Cannabis, Legalisation of: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions

Member [user=70860]alidearest[/user] wrote:

"I think it should be legalized because it does have medical benifits. It curves the
appetite to make you hungry which is perfect for anorexia patients and it settles
the stomach. It is less addicting then most things out there and you can tax it
which would bring us money. They give cancer patients morphine and that is
way more addictive then cannabis is. It mellows some people out, like ADHD
patients, and im not saying a five year old with ADHD should smoke. I'm pretty
sure that there will be limitations on the drug, strict ones. Plus the hemp can be
used for lotions, ropes, blankets, paper and many other thing. So it's not just
medical benifits it works all round. "

I agree with most of what you're saying, but the mellowing part isn't exactly true. Sure,
it calms the person down, but it's not really a mellowing agent.

alidearest Posted: Tue Dec 1, 2009 08:24 am

Member
I think it should be legalized because it does have medical benifits. It curves the
appetite to make you hungry which is perfect for anorexia patients and it settles the
stomach. It is less addicting then most things out there and you can tax it which would
bring us money. They give cancer patients morphine and that is way more addictive
then cannabis is. It mellows some people out, like ADHD patients, and im not saying
a five year old with ADHD should smoke. I'm pretty sure that there will be limitations
on the drug, strict ones. Plus the hemp can be used for lotions, ropes, blankets,
paper and many other thing. So it's not just medical benifits it works all round.

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