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should marijuana be legalised?

Cannabis the psychoactive substance itself currently illegal in New Zealand, should it be legalised?. Alongside tobacco and alcohol cannabis is one of the most popular drugs across the world. Now the uproar to evaluate whether to legalise the substance for recreational use or not in New Zealand has come upon us. Although there are some good effects to the legalising the substance I will only be going through why the substance shouldn’t be legalised and the negative effects like how it would be much more accessible for youths and the younger generation, the uprise of drugged driving and the daily purchase amount.

14 grams/ half an ounce a day allowed to be purchased is that too much?. Currently, within the Bill wrote up to evaluate the legalisation of cannabis or not, it is put out that the daily purchase allowance would be 14 grams a day, 14 grams of cannabis is the equivalent to 42 joints. This is a lot for one person to be able to buy and consume if they choose in one day. Many New Zealanders are opposed to the idea of allowing the daily purchase allowance being 14 grams a day “I do not support the legal purchase of 14 grams a day as per the proposal, that is way too much, and in my opinion will increase access to teenagers, with which the consequent mental health and addiction harm that will follow”. Many believe that allowing it to be that high of a purchase rate will just tempt people that may not have even tried it to get into trying it. Simon Bridges said ” I would’ve thought half an ounce [roughly 14 grams] is far too much. I think that’s something that gets one person, but quite a number of people high.” I’m no expert on these things,” he said. This would also encourage people that do already smoke the substance to consume more, which can lead to harmful effects that may follow like lung cancer and even mental health problems. I personally believe that with making the purchase allowance 14 grams is way too high and would encourage not only the people that haven’t consumed the substance before but also get the younger generation into consuming it and possibly even getting addicted.

Could legalising cannabis send the wrong message to New Zealanders and the Younger generation of kiwis?. If the substance were to be legalised it is believed that many of the younger generations of New Zealanders (under the age of 20) will get into and start consuming the drug, if not once but regularly. Petti said: This legislation will promote increased acceptance that marijuana is harmless because it is legal. We have seen increases in marijuana use by youth in states that passed legalisation with poor oversight, regulation and enforcement of the law. cannabis has a big effect on the development and growth of the brain and can even reshape the brain, especially in younger people. “2016 world health organisation study report and 2017 national academy of sciences study did a review into the psychological effects that cannabis can have on people and the study showed that cannabis is addictive and harmful and can destroy lives, cannabis can be lead to mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression suicidality and psychosis. Making the substance legal will increase the access for the younger generation, making it easier for them to be able to get into using the substance to not only try it but, try to look cool. Many teens try out new things and get into using new things like vaporizers, for example, they were used to help smokers quit but now you look around the world and see kids as young as 11 using high nicotine vapes and e-cigarettes to try and impress their pairs around them. Not realising the harm involved with inhaling the smoke the kids become addicted. The same will happen with cannabis, younger people will get into using it to impress their pairs around them and “show off” to look “cool” without actually looking into and realising the harm and longterm effect that comes with actually consuming it. Making it legal will send the wrong message to youths making them belive that its just another fun thing to try out.

Accepting the bill and making it go forward could bring the uprise of drugged driving. Already as a country, we have plenty of crashes on the road due to the number of tourists and reckless drivers out and about. But could making cannabis legal increase the death rate even more?. Karen dow who is against the idea of legalising the substance stated: “legalising marijuana would only confuse that, leading to more people driving high, and a higher number of road deaths”. Many states like Colorado that have already made marijuana legal have seen a significant rise in road deaths due to people driving under the influence of marijuana. Colorado saw a 151% rise in deaths due to people driving after consuming the substance, after the first six months they had an extra 170 deaths due to this, making their death rate more than double from before it was made legal in 201. Another study done by Eichelberger 2019 in Washington DC found that after the first six months after legalising marijuana the percentage of drugged drivers went up from 8% to 23% that’s a 12% rise. This gives us an insight as a country of what it could look like for New Zealand if we were to make the bill go forward. Kieth Humphries quoted: “[They] give valuable information about cannabis consumption, but that’s not realistic at the roadside. Many people haven’t driven high/stoned before not knowing how it can impair their senses and for those that do, don’t actually acknowledge how it does and what risk it has to the other drivers around them.

So should Cannabis be made legal in New Zealand?. Cannabis is known for its health benefits on the medical side of things, but for recreational use, I believe that this bill to make marijuana legal in New Zealand creates a big dilemma for the country as a whole. It is clear to see what effects this substance could have on our community, and how we should not make the drug legal. For a country that’s trying to go smoke-free by 2025 legalising the substance would only confuse that and create bigger issues that we could avoid by keeping the drug illegal.