This idea is incredibly important for several reasons:
- No government should have any say in what a human puts in their own body. This practice does not directly affect others, so it should be the smokers choice alone.
- The government is always quick to say that they put legislation around drugs like cannabis in place in order to protect their citizens. Current law does not do that, as it forces average citizens to not only buy cannabis from unsavoury sources which can put them at risk of further drug use, or physical violence, but there is also the chance of purchasing cannabis that has been “cut” with chemicals or silicon beads further harming their health.
- As California is attempting to do, legalising Cannabis would create a massive influx of money for the state, helping to aleviate the massice deficit that is causing so many problems for this country. It would create jobs from the unemployed who currently sell Cannabis for their untaxed income, tax from local sales to British citizens, and a booming tourist trade similar to that seen in countries like the Netherlands.
In a modern world where freedom of individuality is championed in the Western parts of the world, where liberal ideals about not being restricted in our lives by skin colour or sexuality, gender or age, why is it that simply because we prefer a smoke of a naturally occuring, long used plant instead of a drink we are treated so differently?