Weed. Ganja. Dank. These are just some of the street names referencing the “third highest used substance in the world behind alcohol and tobacco, respectively” (Global Drug Survey, 2015). Since the early 20th century, cannabis has been subjected to legal restrictions in numerous parts of the world; Canadian cannabis use and supply has been under strict criminal control since 1923: “with recreational use criminally prohibited under the federal drug-control law” (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, CDSA S.C.1996, c.19). However, in the past few decades, changed perceptions regarding recreational cannabis use has taken over internationally; And in Canada, since the 1960s, when cannabis control became controversially debated as a result of “expanding
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If legalized, the disadvantages are the threats that are currently stopped through prohibition. Prohibition restrains net demand and availability; individuals are less interested to use under prohibition, as “associated risks or fears of being arrested/negative affect due to lower quality black-market drugs exist. This results in reduced availability and net demand” (Caulkins et al, 2014). Moreover, prohibition raises black-market costs as there are few individuals who are willing to “pay for a lawyer, let alone weapons in order to settle disputes”. Prohibition also results in “black-market inefficiencies” and leads to drug dealers dealing with “wage differentials”. These factors result in enormous price markups through drug distribution, ultimately reducing drug use as “drug users are sensitive to price changes… [which makes drugs] extraordinarily expensive, costing users much more”. The final disadvantage of legalization is the resulting violation of existing international drug treaties which could ruin relations with the UN as Canada would be “undermining International law and compromising its global position” (Hoffmann and Habibi, 2016). To summarize, the main disadvantage of legalization is increased use and accessibility as prohibition raises costs and limits …show more content…
For cannabis, it’s no different. There is a very varied relationship between the way marijuana is covered within the media and neutral academic articles. A McGill Tribune article has a clear anti-legal stance on cannabis, claiming: “increasingly concerning evidence of negative effects of marijuana on youth exist... Trudeau’s motion does nothing to help prevent them…. Marijuana use can have severely damaging effects on brain development… increasing certain risks by 126% for youth” (Vineberg, 2016). The article is clearly biased, makes numerous bad assumptions and contradicts the scholarly articles. Legalization does not necessarily mean increased use as the author assumes; in fact, that argument can be counteracted as through legalization, the public has access to safer cannabis as it wouldn’t be manufactured with black-market inefficiencies. Moreover, “Ontarians favor tightly regulated production and distribution of recreational cannabis… With the CAMH 2014 putting forward a legalization with strict regulation framework proposal”. The article fails to ground itself in criminological research and ignores that the majority of the public would want a regulated marijuana marketplace. It attempts to push arguments from an anti-legalization point of view, without displaying criminological evidence and
If legalized, the disadvantages are the threats that are currently stopped through prohibition. Prohibition restrains net demand and availability; individuals are less interested to use under prohibition, as “associated risks or fears of being arrested/negative affect due to lower quality black-market drugs exist. This results in reduced availability and net demand” (Caulkins et al, 2014). Moreover, prohibition raises black-market costs as there are few individuals who are willing to “pay for a lawyer, let alone weapons in order to settle disputes”. Prohibition also results in “black-market inefficiencies” and leads to drug dealers dealing with “wage differentials”. These factors result in enormous price markups through drug distribution, ultimately reducing drug use as “drug users are sensitive to price changes… [which makes drugs] extraordinarily expensive, costing users much more”. The final disadvantage of legalization is the resulting violation of existing international drug treaties which could ruin relations with the UN as Canada would be “undermining International law and compromising its global position” (Hoffmann and Habibi, 2016). To summarize, the main disadvantage of legalization is increased use and accessibility as prohibition raises costs and limits …show more content…
For cannabis, it’s no different. There is a very varied relationship between the way marijuana is covered within the media and neutral academic articles. A McGill Tribune article has a clear anti-legal stance on cannabis, claiming: “increasingly concerning evidence of negative effects of marijuana on youth exist... Trudeau’s motion does nothing to help prevent them…. Marijuana use can have severely damaging effects on brain development… increasing certain risks by 126% for youth” (Vineberg, 2016). The article is clearly biased, makes numerous bad assumptions and contradicts the scholarly articles. Legalization does not necessarily mean increased use as the author assumes; in fact, that argument can be counteracted as through legalization, the public has access to safer cannabis as it wouldn’t be manufactured with black-market inefficiencies. Moreover, “Ontarians favor tightly regulated production and distribution of recreational cannabis… With the CAMH 2014 putting forward a legalization with strict regulation framework proposal”. The article fails to ground itself in criminological research and ignores that the majority of the public would want a regulated marijuana marketplace. It attempts to push arguments from an anti-legalization point of view, without displaying criminological evidence and