The legalisation of cannabis speech.

Marijuana also known as weed, cannabis, pot, bud. Is one of the most popular substances across the world alongside alcohol and tobacco. The only difference between the three is the legality. finally, the time has come to evaluate whether or not the substance cannabis itself should be legalised for recreational use or not. Although throughout this presentation I will not be talking about Medical marijuana I will be going through the different perspectives to the legalisation of recreational cannabis as this will be evaluated throughout the next vote coming up very shortly.

As any other “drug” rules would come alongside the legality. Firstly the consumption and restricted buying age would be 20 years and above, this is to limit the use for the younger generation. Purchases can only be through licensed retailers and premises, and the consumption of the substance will only be allowed on private property and premises. There has been a very mixed reaction on the idea of making cannabis legal and what it would mean for New Zealand as a whole. The primary purpose of legalising cannabis is to reduce the overall consumption over time and limit the use for younger people under the age of 20. As the restrictions, we already have now are not stopping people from getting and consuming the substance there are benefits with legalising cannabis, with legalising it will raise awareness for the substance and what health risks are involved with consuming it, informing the younger generation the harm involved with it, as reducing the consumption level over time. creating a safer environment and setting limits on the amount allowed to be purchased and consumed within a day which would be 14 grams/ half an ounce a day and having limit standards on the THC levels making sure it is high quality and meets potency standards which would be limited to 15%, this would make it safer for the people that do choose to consume it. For those of you who don’t know what THC is (THC is the psychoactive substance that cannabis itself is made up and the part of cannabis that creates the psychological effects like “tripping” and “hallucination”). legalising cannabis would mean that it would free up police time to go on calls for greater crimes rather than being called in for cannabis conviction. As we now have no control over the substance as it is illegal, putting the bill in place would enforce these restrictions an anonymous affirmative person stated: “If we’re worried about young New Zealanders, we’re going to have a much better chance at reducing that harm under legal regulation… there’s essentially a decriminalisation element built into the Bill”. Carrying on with the rules, legalising cannabis would also mean that there would be a tax on it. The tax that is taken from the substance would go towards greater things like health and educational programs that would be beneficial for all New Zealanders.

All though there are many people affirmative for the bill to go forward and make marijuana legal within the next vote, there are still many people apposed to the idea and are against the whole suggestion in general. As there are still many negative effects to the substance. For many people, they believe that legalizing cannabis will send the wrong message to people, and will encourage the younger generation to get into using the drug. As said by an anonymous person who is against the idea of legalising the substance “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”. Evidence has shown people that have tried weed before the age of 20 end up moving on and trying harder drugs later on in life and end up becoming addicted to the substance. “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. People under the age of 20 brains are still developing and there has been evidence that shows cannabis has a great effect on the development of the brain, like reshaping of the brain matter. The drug has also been lead to breathing symptoms like lung cancer, also impaired thinking process, and concentration. it can Increased heart rate and blood pressure and much more. People are also very worried about workplace safety, concerned that people may come to work high/stoned and the dangers it would bring especially if they have to operate heavy machinery like forklifts. It would also bring the uprise of drug driving with making it legal people are more likely to drive after consuming the substance, 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”. In Colorado where cannabis has now been made legal once the legalisation was put in place, they saw a 151% rise in traffic deaths related to marijuana. Meaning the death rate more than doubles from before it was legalised in 2013. After the first six months of legalisation, the state saw an extra 170 deaths. 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 here tells us that legalising marijuana in New Zealand definitely would have an impact on the roads around the country. With already having plenty of tourists out and about on our roads and having plenty of accidents and crashes due to the number of people on the roads and reckless driving it would almost be certain that the number of deaths on our roads would increase.

Who in this room would be tempted, or believe that they would try marijuana if it were to be legalised in the next coming vote?. I know that as a teen myself would be tempted to and can predict that over half of you in this room if you haven’t already tried it would be tempted to try it if it were to be legalised. This is because it would be easier to access from people around you. I believe that This bill presents a big dilemma for New Zealand and New Zealanders as there are good points to the affirmative and negative sides. If the bill were to go forward it would change New Zealand drastically as a whole and personally, I believe that if the bill to legalise cannabis were to go forward that the worse impacts that it has would have a greater effect on the country than the positive effects. I don’t believe that as a country we have really had a clear look into and understanding how this substance would affect us.