| Koidezawa, Teruyuki (Teru) | |||||||||||||
| Why I Support The Legalization Of Marijuana |
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Although Marijuana is a forbidden drug except for some medical use, it is a very popular drug in Canada. In fact, there are many marijuana traffickers and many opportunities to see people smoking marijuana in public area. In contrast to Canada, Japan has a stricter policy about marijuana than Canada does. The government deals with marijuana the same way as heroin, cocaine, and LSD. Actually, I thought marijuana is similar to heroin. I suppose many Japanese people think like me. Moreover, there is a no controversy about the legalization of marijuana in Japan but many controversies in Canada. When coming to Canada, I did not have any idea about those controversies; as time went by, I met a marijuana smoker and saw news about marijuana on the TV and in newspapers, and I have started to think about it. Now I approve the marijuana legalization even though I don’t smoke marijuana. I’m going to write about three factors led me to this opinion and the opinion why the legalization is hard in Canada lastly. First, compared to other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, marijuana is a less harmful drug. Some scientists even define cigarettes as more harmful and addictive than marijuana. In fact, marijuana is categorized as a soft drug and legal in Netherlands; on the other hand, heroin, cocaine, and LSD is categorized as a hard drug and strictly forbidden. Marijuana is sold the cafes, known as “coffee shops”.
This table[1] proves the less harmfulness of marijuana. Even though Netherlands legalized that, lifetime prevalence of marijuana use, age 12 - 18, is 21%; however, that of USA, which prohibits marijuana, is 38% as the table shows. Some people might say that soft drugs lead people to hard drugs, but whereas a heroin user per 100,000 populations in Netherlands is 160, that in USA is 430 as the table shows. Moreover the in incarceration rate per 100,000 of Netherlands is only 65; it show that marijuana is not related to crimes. After all, it is obvious that marijuana is a less harmful drug from this comparison. Second, as a result of the legalization of marijuana, the government might cut the resource of the crime groups such as youth gangs and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC). Many crimes are related to the marijuana trade in Canada. As we usually see on the TV and in newspapers, many people are arrested, resulting from indoor marijuana cultivation. The majority of the grows are operated by youth gangs or by associates of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), and they get the money from those cultivation and dealing. The strict marijuana policy is making them wealthy. Last, the legalization of marijuana will result in an increase of tax revenues. The marijuana trade is a black market right now, so the government cannot collect taxes. If it were legalized, retailers could sell marijuana, and it would result in an increase of tax revenue. It is the fact that marijuana cultivation in British Columbia is a billion-dollar industry. Of course, the price will decrease once marijuana is legalized but, the government will be able to impose a high tax for it; just likes cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. Despite the three factors, legalization of marijuana would be hard in Canada because marijuana is still forbidden in the United States. Even now the US government is complaining about the easy marijuana policy of Canada because traffickers smuggle a significant portion of the Canadian harvest into the United States.
In fact, the bar chart shows that marijuana seizures along the British Columbia-Washington State land border, which totaled 325 pounds in 1994, increased sharply to more than 2,600 pounds in 1998. Marijuana seizures in the region rose again in 1999, when USCS officials seized nearly 2,900 pounds. [2] Therefore, if the government legalizes the marijuana, more traffickers will smuggle marijuana into the United States. I think this is the reason the legalization of marijuana won’t happen in Canada even if Canadian support the legalization of marijuana.
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