Truth About Cannabis Cutting through the lies

Some arguments for legalization

Here's a good post from a reddit thread

Personal Freedom and Human Rights.

Consenting, informed adults should have the freedom to choose what they put into their own bodies and to alter their own perception, even if that means possibly harming themselves. "If I am not sovereign over my own consciousness, then I am sovereign over nothing. We have given the state the key the most intimate part of ourselves". By itself, using drugs is a victimless crime and the state should not have the right to imprison or punish people for it - we already have laws to deal with other crimes that people might commit. Prohibition is a gross violation of human rights and the "War on Drugs" is really a war against the people of the world.

Economic benefit

If Drugs were legalised, we could tax their sale and production, thereby generating revenue for the state. We would open up an entirely new industry for the private sector to produce and transport drugs, and create thousands of jobs. Poor drug producers in other countries (opium and coca farmers) could be offered a fairer price for their product. As a result of reducing the harm to individuals, detailed below, we would reduce the costs of healthcare on society. We would also lower the prison population, leading to a vast decrease in the costs of operating prisons. Because prohibition laws are unfairly targeted and enforced against minorities, it helps keep them in poverty - removing prohibition would make it easier for poor people to move out of poverty and emancipate themselves. All of this serves to enrich society and greatly boost the economy.

Harm to Individuals

Prohibition is supported by industries and organisations that put their own financial gain above the public good. Putting users, dealers and producers in jail does not stop crime, as most re-offend, and does not help them improve their lives at all. Prohibition does not cause drug use to go down, legalisation does. Legalisation would make it more difficult for minors to obtain drugs. Prohibition causes gang violence due to an unregulated market, and increased corruption due to the power of organised crime. Legalisation would make it easier for problem users to get the help they need, and misinformation (currently rife on both sides of the debate) could be kept to a minimum. No matter how harmful a drug is, prohibition always make the problems associated with it worse and never improves them.

Misinformation about the harm of drugs

The facts are as follows: Tobacco causes more deaths than all other drugs (legal or not) combined. Alcohol is next, causing more deaths than all other drugs combined (excluding tobacco). All illegal drugs combined causes about the same amount of deaths as all prescription drugs combined. Of the illegal drugs; cannabis, LSD and psilocybin mushrooms cause zero deaths directly (although some are due to accidents that occur while intoxicated), although there is a very small risk of them causing the onset of mental illness in those already predisposed - around the same as with alcohol, they have not been proven to cause any other long term health conditions. LSD and psilocybin mushrooms are not addictive at all, cannabis and MDMA are only slightly addictive. MDMA ("ecstasy") causes almost no deaths directly despite being the second most popular illegal drug, and is not known to cause any long term health conditions. Heroin, while addictive and easy to overdose on, does not cause any long term health conditions. Methamphetamine and cocaine are a little more harmful than alcohol, and a little more addictive, but much more difficult to overdose on - none of them are anywhere near as addictive as heroin or opiates.

Noam Chomsky on Cannabis