Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and California have joined joined Alaska, Washington and Colorado by legalising cannabis for recreational use. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have now legalised cannabis use in some form or fashion. I those states, people can go out and buy marijuana, a nectar collector, a vape pen, a bong, whatever they want and face no legal repercussions. It doesn’t matter anymore if it’s for medical purposes or if someone just wants to feel the buzz.
While each victory is a step in the right direction for pro-pot campaigners, the result in California will have the most significant impact on a number of levels. Firstly, it is the sixth-largest economy in the world and thus presents the most lucrative opportunity to date for investors in a state already known for its green thumb.
It will also be seen as a turning point in the campaign to legalise marijuana for recreational use, both nationally and internationally. Many commentators have already acknowledged that it now seems only a matter of time before the drug is legalised across the country on a state and federal level.
Perhaps most significant of all is the impact these votes will have on the drug trade south of the border. Some law enforcement officials believe that legalising weed will do more damage to Mexican drug cartels than any other policy to date. When you see the numbers, it is hard to disagree.
In 2009, marijuana sales were worth an estimated $2.7 billion to drug cartels. A kilo of grass could be sold by farmers for $90. By 2013, that figure has dropped to as low as $30 with the amount of cannabis being shipped dropping almost 32 per cent. Legal weed is hitting cartels where it hurts – in the pocket. Fully legal businesses having a POS dispensary software is taking money away from illegal cartels and putting it into the economy instead.
This was one of the major arguments made by campaigners for legalisation. With the facts to back it up, it would be hard to disagree that the bottom is about to fall out of the illicit trading of weed in the US. Additionally, many people are desperate to put a dent in the seemingly invincible cartels that are responsible for over 100,000 deaths in the last 10 years.
A major consideration in the campaign was that two states had previously legalised the drug and few of the dire predictions of the prohibition campaign came to fruition. In fact, the opposite was almost always the case. In Colorado, 55 per cent of people voted to legalise in 2012 and now 69 per cent of residents support the measure. The money generated from taxes has been invested in schools and health programs and people can see the benefits of a regulated system.
While not all of the arguments for legalisation will cross the Atlantic, we should be looking at jurisdictions in the US that have legalised marijuana for recreational and medical purposes to see how it might be applied here.
The pro-cannabis campaign enjoys wide-ranging support in the US, everywhere you look there is a new weed blog popping up, a new interview with a lawmaker, not to mention the endorsements from health professionals. Previously, the main concern around the use of marijuana was its potential impact on health. While the drug is not completely safe, especially when brain development is ongoing, it is by no means the destroyer of worlds we were once led to believe it was.
The group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR), which counts a former surgeon general among its members, has endorsed the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use. They argue that prohibition and criminalisation does more harm than good.
They contend that the circumstances offered by a society that legalises and regulates marijuana use is safer and more equitable than a prohibition model. While their campaign is very much focused on the US iteration of the issue, it is noteworthy that the group is supported by lecturers in some of the country’s leading medical schools.
Efforts to change how the drug is classified in Ireland have largely focused on decriminalisation as opposed to legalisation. While decriminalisation has been effective in tackling the issue of drug use in Portugal, there are arguments for giving cannabis special consideration.
Decriminalising drug users is definitely the way forward in dealing with drug use and abuse in this country and others. However, it does mean that the supplier remains the same and the same people who profit from its sale and supply now, will continue to do so in a decriminalised model.
It seems illogical to pad the pockets of criminals nationally and internationally by criminalising a substance multiple medical reports have described as being less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. A 1994 survey conducted by epidemiologist James Anthony and his colleagues asked 8,000 people about their use of marijuana and other drugs The results showed that, in fact, substance dependency was more common amongst drinkers and smokers than marijuana users.
Some pro-cannabis campaigners would have you believe that it is little more than a harmless plant with a laundry list of benefits. However, the fact remains that prolonged use can cause lasting or permanent damage.
The question we need to be asking ourselves is whether or not the circumstances offered by legalisation are safer than other options.
It stands to reason that a taxed and regulated product is better than a system in which the suppliers are unconstrained by quality or health standards and are similarly unencumbered in terms of who they sell too. Furthermore, the current legal situation means that many casual users can face consequences that last a lifetime.
The argument for the decriminalisation of cannabis is being reconsidered in countries around the world. Possession is legal in various capacities in Spain, the Netherlands, Colombia and Uruguay. The federal authorities look like they will have to blink sooner rather than later in the US, and Canada is now considering relaxing its laws around possession too.
We should take note of these actions and take steps to legalise the drug here.
Kevin Donoghue is Chair of Labour Youth and a former President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).
