The idea
My idea is that by legalising substances commonly used for personal use, such as cannabis, it will have a positive effect on all communities.
Drug abuse in its current form is a massive problem. It costs the taxpayer an almost incomprehensible amount of money. Such important institutions like the NHS are being infiltrated by constant drug-related injuries, illnesses and crimes.
Due to the normal, quite severe state opposition to drugs, users and "dealers" have turned to shockingly horrific ways to traffic drugs around our community.
I propose that if certain drugs of Class B and C nature are legalised, not only will communities feel less ill-at-ease with the state, but the freedom that ensues in such moderation will actually make the whole process of politics and state-public relations much more friendly and considered.
Why is it important?
In my research I looked at the horrific effects prohibition in 1920s-30s USA had on the public there. Imposing such a strict enforcement against alcohol created an absolute mass of criminal problems, ranging from petty theft and burglary to fund illegal alcohol habits, to large-scale "gangsterist" organised crime.
The criminal aspect was not the only problem that ensued after such a ban, however. Because people, normal, working men and women, had to go to such lengths just to have a drink, abuse became more frequent and hospitals and surgeries became deeply infiltrated by drink-related issues as a result.
There massive parallels between alcohol prohibition and the sort of climate around drugs nowadays. For example;
Facts available in showing how costs can be saved are in abundance, I managed to find out that "decriminalisation" – the process of not imposing strict penalties on marijuana users in certain US states has had a positive effect.
"Decriminalization saves a tremendous amount in enforcement costs. California alone saves $100 million per year."
I urge you to think of what you could do with that large, saved fee. Think of the massive benefits ploughing £100 million into schools would have. Or rather, the NHS could be improved insofar as legalising some drugs decreases the amount of drug abuse, which lowers the scope of drug infiltration in the NHS. Adding this to a prospective amount of money saved in the region of £100 million… our excellent national health service can only be improved.
Prohibition of drugs such as cannabis and marijuana, to me at least, invites widespread corruption within the criminal justice system by giving officials easy, tempting opportunities to accept bribes, steal and sell marijuana, and plant evidence on innocent people.
You may think this is just a naive, populist idea but I'd like to say it honestly isn't. I'm not here to speak negatively of governments just for the sake of it, but the last Labour administration for one attracted controversy for dismissing senior drug advisors because these people, most of them scientists, put forward lots of evidence to suggest that our governments are far too strict and criminalising on many substances.
The Conservative MP Alan Duncan wrote about similar drug legalisation in his book "Saturn's Children". As Mr. Duncan, correctly in my view, puts it;
"The international trade in illegal drugs is now thought to be worth $500 billion a year. Policing a global industry of that magnitude, in which organised gangs are prepared to resort to violence to protect their markets, is a major problem in itself. But the craving of consumers for drugs has also created an epidemic of theft, burglary and muggings by addicts desperate to acquire the money they need to feed their habits."
Picking up on Mr. Duncan's point, drug users are made out to be horribly evil people. Yet Howard Marks, an Oxbridge-educated former teacher and scientist certainly wouldn't have been on the CIA's "most wanted" list for 27 years if cannabis and marijuana weren't as strongly criminalised as they are.
Take the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. A place where cannabis, marijuana and other types of hashish are legalised, and where they have perhaps one of the lowest crime rates of all Western Europe's biggest cities. You could argue that this is perhaps because they are too "high" to organise crime and other things of such a complexity, but I think it's pretty telling.
I'm not expecting anyone in the government to all of a sudden make a rapid decision on drug legalisation, one only has to look at the difficulties faced by many drug-legalisation activists to notice the hardship involved. However, I would sincerely appreciate a response at least, even if my points and areas of thinking are tackled by fact and a strong argument.
The best thing about this "Great Repeal Act" is that it encourages widespread discussion between state and public, if this happens to incur such debate I will be very happy.
Thanks in advance
Alex, 17.