Risks And Benefits Of Cannabis Legalization In New Zealand

Marijuana Legalization is a big topic in New Zealand right now. A recent poll done in NZ suggested that 52 percent of New Zealanders intend to vote against the legalisation of cannabis, while 39 percent want it legalised. This surprised me of how many people agrees to Cannabis legalization so I decided to use it as my investigation topic. I divided it into three parts, harm to human body, proposed benefits from legalization and benefit the government receives.

What is the Harm Caused by Marijuana Use?

Although marijuana is becoming more popular and accepted doesn't mean it has no risk. Some common short-term side effects include:

• Memory issues
• Terrible anxiety
• Paranoia
• Seeing/smelling things that aren’t there
• Slow reaction time
• Rapid heart rate

As a Cannabis research expert said, “I see increased problems with psychosis, with addiction, with suicide, with depression and anxiety.” A significant amount of people with a health problem caused by marijuana has increased.

What are the Proposed Benefits from Legalization?

The main benefit humans gain from cannabis is clear, medical. “I’m working to address cannabis stigma and bring medical cannabis products into the mainstream,” says Manning. So what exactly medical cannabis’s advantages are?

• Effectively against chronic pain. Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability, affecting more than 25 million adults in the U.S.
• Published last year in the journal Clinical Psychology Review, revealed that using marijuana may help people with alcohol or opioid dependencies to fight their addictions.
• According to the author of a famous US article series“Clinical Psychology Review”, use of marijuana can relieve depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
• Oral cannabinoids are effective against nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, found by some small studies in US.

How are Governments Going to Benefit from Legalization?

Huge tax and revenue can be made by legalizing marijuana. According to US drug foundation website, the state of Colorado in the United States generated just under $200 million in marijuana taxes in 2016.This was double from the year before.In 2017 it raised to $247 million. $40 million goes to school system. $18 million goes to public health. Approximately $3 million goes to the agricultural(farming) and $1 million goes to legal system.

Conclusion

After I have done all my research on this topic I have found although Cannabis causing big health problem to human body it still has advantages such as Medical use and generating tax to support school system and so on. Next year Newzealand is about to have its own vote on cannabis legalization, it seems the number of people agrees to legalize is slowly increasing. In my opinion legalizing cannabis is not a very good thing to do, it cause youths to easily getting hold of edibles infused with Cannabis.