Legalizing the use of midicinal marijuana - Essay Example

rlands, cannabis is openly tolerated and can be both purchased and consumed in one of several Amsterdam ‘coffee houses.’ Inexplicably, the city has not been thrown into anarchy which, evidently, is what the opponents of cannabis legalisation are afraid of. The evidence demonstrates that legalizing cannabis for medicinal in addition to general purposes would prove a benefit to society, evidence which is well-known throughout the scientific, political and public arena but this collective knowledge has yet to be acted upon.

This discussion will examine the issue of legalisation drawing from European and American experiences. A report in The Economist expressly states concerns regarding a rising drug using and dependent population if these drugs should be made more available. While acknowledging that the price of drugs is artificially high due to the difficulties of circumventing the law, authors of this report indicate that it is precisely because of the high cost and difficulty to obtain that prevents more individuals from experimenting with them, thus becoming addicted, either physically or psychologically.

Although these arguments can also be made for other substances that are currently legal, voters have argued that it is not necessary to bring in more potentially harmful substances into legal circulation at this time. To support the argument in favor of legalisation, authors pull in the theories of John Stuart Mill, who espoused that adult citizens should have the right to make their own choices regarding whether or not to participate in harmful activity as long as it does no harm to others, a theory that has been largely ignored in the decisions regarding alcohol and tobacco, but not cannabis.

(“Case for Legalisation,” 2001) Eleven states allow the use of marijuana for medicinal use, Rhode Island the most recent joining California, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Washington and, Vermont and Maine. However, laws enacted by