Should Cannabis Be Legal Essay

New Year’s Day. 2014. Colorado. American. The first day that the purchasing and private consumption of cannabis was legal. It was the first state to step out from the darkness since cannabis was made illegal in 1937. After a highly regarded doctor presented evidence stating that “cannabis made black men more desirable if a white woman smoked it” politicians hasted to outlaw it. Our government encouraged the witch hunt of users during the sixties because the menacing hippies were smoking it. Even after flower power wilted away cannabis still “remains illegal for UK residents to possess cannabis in any form” states the Home Office. But why is this? We allow a far greater threat to exist in our society- alcohol. In our society cannabis is presented as a seedy, dark substance. Something that we shouldn’t trust. Something that turns the righteous into the wicked. Something that breeds anti-social behaviour. This voyeur will make you a bad, immoral being that wastes their life. It’s this stigma that …show more content…
It’s our heritage. Think about it. Our forefathers drank alcohol and nowadays being able to buy a pint is a rite of passage. We’ve grown up with wine on our dinner tables and a beer in our hands at special occasions. Then when cannabis came along it was something that we could not associate with our history (despite being used by Queen Victoria in the previous century). From looking at all the facts presented cannabis should be legal. However though, the stigma around cannabis will always make the majority want it illegal. The masses believe that because it’s a drug - scientifically a plant – it should be illegal. Overall I believe that there is a certain level of irony in existence. We criminalised one thing that doesn’t do us any real physical harm or damage to our society. But we allow something that causes far greater pain to exist. Alcohol, the greatest foe of