Legalise it!

According to the 2014 British drugs survey conducted by The Guardian, 61% of the population have never tried illegal drugs.
This sentence saddens me as much as the impending split of Pink Floyd, or the past one of the Backstreet Boys. Not because I am an advocate or user of narcotics, but because it speaks for an outdated and harmful stance of society.
The argument against the use of marijuana, simplified, goes as follows. It ruins lives, makes people lazy, kills our brain cells and creates the repetitive, two-instrument sound known as reggae “music”. It should therefore be illegal.

Of course, the government is obliged to discourage behaviours that are self-destructive. And yet, when looking at the highly esteemed and seemingly sacred drug of alcohol, the ban on marijuana makes little sense.
Drinking not only destroys your liver, but increases the likelihood of cancer, stroke and heart disease. What is more important, it is a hazard to others. Car accidents, domestic abuse and sexual assault have all had links with alcoholism. Despite all of this third party harm, in which individuals do not consent to a habit that injures them, alcohol remains not only legal, but a vital component of our social lives. It is the glue that sticks dinner parties, awkward dates and Revs embarrassment together.
On the other hand, weed is significantly more innocent. You can draw from either personal experience or observation… Worst case scenario of the image in your head right now is some potheads sitting around laughing at nonsensical jokes. There is no anger, no aggression, no loss of boundaries.
Those of you who have done your research on this topic must be aware of the 1950s study on the effects of marijuana conducted by the US government. Their conclusions proved weed almost poisonous, and are pretty much the bedrock of all reference against it. Think Pineapple Express, except with monkeys. Although, I guess James Franco has been playing with the monkey-human line for years.
What you may not know is the method which was used to carry through these studies. These James Francos, apologies, I mean apes, were given a gas mask and were subjected to marijuana smoke for an extended period of time. It is not exactly a little known fact that asphyxiation is pretty much the surest and most natural way to kill loads of brain cells. And so, the scientists decided that weed is the Jack the Ripper of brain cells and announced to the world that it is the devil’s instrument.
We are now left with the inheritance of those not-so-scientific endeavours; the illegality of pot.
What is more, given the illicit status of marijuana across the world, as well as some fairly powerful pharmaceutical lobbying, further independent studies are not an option that will be explored in the foreseeable future.
So, why is alcohol legal and marijuana illegal? The answer is somewhat counter-intuitive and weird, so bear with me. It is because of the power of the law.
Given the data at the time, and the interests of some strong benefactors, it was deemed unacceptable back then. Banning it seemed like the sensible thing to do. The problem is, the law has a funny way of directing collective thought. Especially with regards to mind-altering substances, what is illegal and what is “right” are very closely interlinked. We trust that the legislators know best in drawing our legal framework. We believe that what is outlawed is a detriment. Generation after generation, we gradually stop questioning the reasons behind its prohibition and start repeating the argument as naturally true. New information seems like a conspiracy theory, or just absurdity.
Furthermore, since weed was, and still is, a marginal phenomenon, there is no strong majority to overturn its suppression. When alcohol was prohibited in the 1930s, enough people drank for the outrage to be significant. But we still consider marijuana an affliction of the minority, and the minority is seldom respected or heard.
Herein lies the greatest paradox in this issue. We refuse to review our current laws on the grounds of them existing in the moment, when the whole point of legislature is constant revision to better serve society’s current needs.
Right now, the US is spending $25.4 billion of its $3.03 trillion budget on the war on drugs. And yet, little has been accomplished. If anything, it looks like they’re giving up – except the odd case where an individual is specifically made an example of. In Texas, teenager Jacob Lavoro may serve a life sentence for possession of hash oil to make brownies.
The fact of the matter is that people will always seek drugs, and where there is a supply there is a demand. What is more, when it comes to making a profit or acquiring a fix, people always find a way. Trying to fight illicit drug trafficking is as promising as trying to stop Nicki Minaj from saying the word bitch. As defeatist as this sounds, I refuse to see the value of efforts to control a substance that can medically help with pain relief and has very few detrimental effects.
The current status of marijuana has widespread negative effects. It pushes users to a black market, which they shouldn’t have to be involved with. These markets not only offer unregulated, potentially dangerous, substances, but also manage to provide revenue to the same Dons who sell sinister, addictive and infinitely more destructive Class A drugs such as heroin or cocaine.