Should Cannabis Be Legalised in Australia

Should cannabis be legalised in Australia? Your response should provide

a considered discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of both legalisation and

criminalisation which shows evidence of wide and varied reading.

Marijuana also commonly known as Cannabis is derived and excerpted from the

Cannabis sativa plant which is classified into two groups. Hemp the fibrous source of

the plant and is low in psychoactive components can be used for its roots, stalks or

stems predominantly to produce clothing materials, paper and skin care products.

Marijuana on the other hand are the dried flowers, leaves and buds of the hemp plant

which is high in psychoactive components and used as an illicit substance which is

mostly smoked and taken by the mouth. Although most nations including Albania,

Hong Kong and Ireland have regarded the possession, sale, transportation or any

cultivation of cannabis as illegal. The legality of cannabis is different between countries

as some countries have decriminalised the use or farming of cannabis so long as they

are in small amounts. However, the medicinal use of cannabis is still permitted is

various parts of the world such as Canada, Finland and Israel. In Australia, any use,

cultivation, sale or transportation of the drug is deemed illegal and applies to other

nations who have also agreed upon the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961

(Hall, 1997). Both aspects of legalisation and criminalisation will be discussed and

explored in terms of its advantages and disadvantages and as to how this may or may

not perhaps have effects on an individual or community but as a whole nation.

Scholars M. Dennis and W. White (1999) explored the ideas that revolved around an

individual's rights to use cannabis in hopes of enabling others to see and understand

how cannabis use is no different to alcohol or tobacco. This proposition was only to be

accepted if certain laws and guidelines would be in place so that the safety and...