Right: cannabis over the counter. This is now the situation in some parts of the United States, with many now urging that the production and use of marijuana be regulated and taxed.
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Arguments in favour of legalising marijuana in Australia
1. The health risks posed by marijuana use are significantly exaggerated
It has been claimed that though marijuana can have some adverse side-effects the level of harm attributed to it is often exaggerated.
The United States Internet site, Live Science, states, ‘Unlike many abused drugs, an overdose of marijuana is not lethal, according to the National Cancer Institute. Although marijuana can be addictive for some, the potential for forming an addiction to marijuana is lower than some prescription drugs and other abused drugs.’
Professor Lester Grinspoon, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, testifying before the Crime Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., on October 1, 1997, stated ‘Cannabis is remarkably safe. Although not harmless, it is surely less toxic than most of the conventional medicines it could replace if it were legally available. Despite its use by millions of people over thousands of years, cannabis has never caused an overdose death.’
The United States Internet site, Live Science, also notes ‘Studies have produced conflicting results on whether smoking marijuana carries a significant cancer risk. According to the American Cancer Society, worldwide research into the benefits and side effects of compounds in marijuana is ongoing. Some compounds in marijuana have already been developed into pharmaceuticals.’
In 1997 The American Journal of Public Health published a report which stated ‘We…say that on the medical evidence available, moderate indulgence in cannabis has little ill-effect on health, and that decisions to ban or legalise cannabis should be based on other considerations.’
In 1992, in the journal Fundamental And Applied Toxicology, Dr. William Slikker, director of the Neurotoxicology Division of the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), described the health of monkeys exposed to very high levels of cannabis for an extended period: ‘The general health of the monkeys was not compromised by a year of marijuana exposure as indicated by weight gain, carboxyhemoglobin and clinical chemistry/haematology values. There’s just nothing there. They were all fine.’
It has also been argued that those who develop schizophrenia or other mental disorders after using marijuana may have been genetically predisposed to do so and may have even been self-medicating in their initial use of marijuana.
2. Legalising marijuana would control the quality of the product and reduce sales of dangerous synthetic substitutes
The possibility of product regulation and quality control is one of the strongest arguments for legalisation of marijuana.
In an article published in The Conversation on November 14, 2013, Stephen Pudney, Professor of Economics at the University of Essex, stated, ‘The primary psychoactive component of cannabis is D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has been linked to impaired brain function and psychotic symptoms, but research suggests that another component, cannabidiol (CBD) has a protective anti-psychotic effect. In the last decade or so, there has been a worrying rise in the market share of high-THC, low-CBD forms of cannabis (usually known as “skunk”), and this worrying trend has proved impossible to control under prohibitionist policy.’
Prior to that state legalising marijuana, the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) determined testing requirements for pesticides, microbials, moulds, filth, residual solvents, harmful chemicals, and potency.
The term ‘potency’ concerns the strength or effectiveness of marijuana and marijuana-infused products. A potent product will be high in delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main ingredient responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive, or mood-altering, effects. Also measured will be cannabidiol, or CBD, which has medicinal properties without the psychoactive effects.
Julie Postlethwait, the spokeswoman for MED, has stated, ‘Our primary focus is always public safety and to make sure that communication is clear to the end user…Samples of all marijuana products for retail sale will have to be tested by a certified lab.’
Genifer Murray of CannLabs Inc., a third-party cannabis-testing lab in Denver, has stated, ‘Testing and labelling potency, whether for THC or CBDs, especially in edibles, is important because patients could either overmedicate or pay for a product that will not be effective.’
Legalising marijuana would also avoid the risk to health posed by the growing use of synthetic cannabis.
Designed to mimic the effects of cannabis, synthetic cannabinoid products contain synthesised chemical compounds that are sprayed on to green herbs similar in appearance to cannabis. The products do not contain delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis and so will not show up in most drug tests administered by employers or the police.
The products are readily available via tobacconists, sex shops and various websites. This enhances their appeal to those unable to source cannabis easily, or who do not want to break the law.
These products are potentially highly dangerous as there is nothing to indicate what their active ingredients are. The most common reported negative side effects are dizziness, nausea, vomiting, paranoia, panic attacks and headaches. Other reported symptoms included heart palpitations requiring emergency care, chest pains and difficulty breathing.
3. There is little risk of becoming dependent on marijuana
It has been claimed that although there is some risk of becoming dependent on marijuana, that risk is small and far less than that associated with nicotine or heroin.
In an interview on the ABC, Professor Wayne Hall stated, ‘Generally people believe that marijuana is not a drug of dependence, however I think there's mounting evidence that it is, that people can become dependent on it, probably in the order of about 10% of those who ever use the drug.
That said, while people should certainly be made aware of the fact that there is a risk of becoming dependent on marijuana, I don't think that risk should be exaggerated.’
In a large-scale survey published in 1994 epidemiologist James Anthony, then at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, and his colleagues asked more than 8,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 about their use of marijuana and other drugs. The researchers found that of those who had tried marijuana at least once, about 9 percent eventually fit a diagnosis of cannabis dependence. The corresponding figure for alcohol was 15 percent; for cocaine, 17 percent; for heroin, 23 percent; and for nicotine, 32 percent.
A British study published in 2012 by the Oxford University Press stated, ‘It has been claimed that regular marijuana use does not necessarily indicate dependence. Only about 30 percent of those who are estimated to have used on more than half the days in the last year self-report symptoms that suggest a diagnosis of abuse or dependence. The corresponding figure for cocaine is 88 percent.’
The same study observed, ‘Someone who uses cocaine every other day or more often is probably cocaine dependent; someone who uses marijuana every other day or more often is probably not cannabis dependent. In this regard, marijuana resembles alcohol more than it does the "hard" drugs.’
4. Marijuana has not been established as a ‘gateway’ drug that encourages the use of other drugs
It has been claimed that there is no conclusive evidence that marijuana use leads to experimentation with other drugs.
The United States Institute of Medicine in March 1999 released a report rejecting the ‘gateway’ theory that says cannabis leads to the use of harder drugs, recognising that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.
An article published in Scientific American on March 1, 2012, stated ‘Many studies have found that most people who used other illicit drugs had, in fact, used marijuana first. Although results such as these are consistent with the gateway hypothesis, they do not prove that using marijuana causes the use of other drugs. Those who are drawn to marijuana may simply be predisposed to drug use in general, regardless of their exposure to pot.’
5. Legalising marijuana would be of economic benefit to governments
In Australia the cost of enforcing laws against marijuana supply is estimated to be as high as $4.7 billion a year, with little apparent impact on availability or use.
Brisbane author and academic, Dr John Jiggins, has noted that between January 1976 and December 2000, Australian governments spent $13 billion prosecuting about 1.5 million drug offences with the purpose of reducing illegal drug use of all kinds.
It has been pointed out that were marijuana supply and use to be legalised, governments would be doubled advantaged. They would benefit from no longer having to meet the cost of enforcing anti-marijuana laws. They would also benefit from the tax revenues they would gain from the legal sale of marijuana. Just as the excise on cigarettes and alcohol are major sources of government revenue, were marijuana legalised, the tax on its sale would become an important source of income for Australian governments.
In the United States the legal marijuana market has been estimated to become enormous in the wake of legalisation in Colorado and New York State. It is expected to grow from $1.4-billion in medical marijuana in 2013 by 64% to $2.34-billion in 2014 with recreational cannabis added in Colorado and Washington, according to Arcview Market Research, which tracks and publishes data on the cannabis industry.
Colorado's branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has claimed everyone will benefit. NORML attorney Rachel Gillette stated, ‘It will mean jobs, tax revenue for the state and local jurisdictions, increased tourism, and a developing progressive new industry in Colorado.’