Should Cannabis Be Legalized And Taxed?

[lynnmarie]

It has been recently stated in the I paper that legalizing cannabis and also taxing it could cut deficit by 1.2 billion. Do you think cannabis should be legalized and taxed? I am studying politics a level and this is one of the issues i will be conducting my debate on, so I was wondering if you could perhaps post your opinions on this issue here? Thankyou!

[ummmm]

How much do you reckon the dealer makes?

Certainly more than it would be taxed.

[Frank97]

If it's dearer, then I don't think it would work.

[DJHawkes]

it is not very easy for kids to buy age restricted products at all, not sure what you are basing that idea on.

[ummmm]

Yes it is Dot.

[lynnmarie]

Most young people have older friends who are more than willing to go in the shop for them, mainly because they benefit from the purchase, especially if it's tobacco, as they will be given a few cigarettes as a thank you, or they could do what some young people do, and hang about street corners to ask people to go in the shop for them, or they could goto someones house who sells tobacco from different countries cheaply. Trust me, my friends always have a supply of cigarettes :l

[Trurider]

Now if this question was on Yahoo Answers - it would be only one of many. They want free drugs - guns and they hate any sort of authority. Now that is a recipe for disaster.
In the States you use drugs and you can't get a job - they test you and since they can test your hair they can detect it's use after a year and more. You can't have a driving licence and you can't get anywhere to live as Landlords don't like the police breaking down the doors to arrest the druggies.

Drug users make umpteen false claims that drugs don't hurt them but their brains are mainly fried already.

[chrissa1]

Surely, if it was legalised, it would encourage young people to try it because it is Not against the law anymore.
I was a teenager in the swinging 60's and the very illegality of it made me never try it.

[ummmm]

Times have changed, attitudes have changed.

[Baldric]

'Cannabis' nature's way of telling you
you have too much money!

[lynnmarie]

What do you guys think about cannabis merchandise? They sell that kind of stuff in pound shops etc

[Prudie]

Definitely No! As someone who has spent many an hour in my youth totally chilled and laughing my head off and unbelievable sex and never being aggressive thanks to smoking cannabis I'm not speaking without experience. But people don't realise what a horrible and sometimes longterm paranoid effect it can have on mental health. It can be horrendous in excess with susceptible users,how can that be legal.

[Old_Geezer]

Possibly not chrissa1. If it wasn't illegal it would not be "forbidden fruit" and so may be less attractive. It may encourage a responsible attitude though.

[pixie373]

The advantage would be the regulating of it, but nobody has really mentioned that it can cause schizophrenia and paranoia - particularly when smoked as a teenager. I took my daughter to speak to a doctor when i caught her with it and even i was surprised at the high correlation with mental illnesses. Won't save money for long!

[ummmm]

Not much different to alcohol.

[pixie373]

Apologies, prudie. You weren't there when i started.

[chrissa1]

It must have been The way I was brought up, O-G.

[Prudie]

Glad for the back-up pixie :-) Obviously alcohol and smoking have their own devastating effects on people's lives but not so much on mental illness which is hard to treat and get over even with current therapies.

[weecalf]

Would it be called inhalence tax ?

[ummmm]

I always thought it was skunk that risked mental health.

[pixie373]

Yes, schizophrenia is permanent and life-changing. I won't say I've never smoked it, but it's not worth the risk in my opinion.