Will the UK parliament entertain the idea of legalising marijuana?
Source: AP
THE movement to legalise marijuana has been gaining significant momentum and the United Kingdom is set to be the next big battle ground for advocates.
After launching the petition last Wednesday, at the time of writing it has garnered over 173,000 signatures. Under a newly introduced scheme, any petition that receives over 100,000 signatures must be considered for debate in parliament.
The Petitions Committee has said any petition with over 100,000 signatures are “almost always” debated.
The online appeal makes the claim that legal marijuana could bring in £900m in taxes annually, and save £400m in policing and legal costs.
It also claims the move would create over 10,000 new jobs — something which has been the experience in certain US states that have legalised the drug.
The petition describes it as “a substance that is safer than alcohol, and has many uses. It is believed to have been used by humans for over 4000 years, being made illegal in the UK in 1925.”
However the demands are a far cry for the current status of the drug in the country. Marijuana is classified as a Class B drug in the UK which means the drug comes with prison terms as long as 14 years for sale and production and five years for possession.
But James Richard Owen who lodged the petition believes the timing is right for a new approach to be adopted.
“With Uruguay legalising, a lot of states in the US legalising, government cuts, people don’t want to spend the money on policing something they find is harmless,” the 25-year-old told the Guardian.
Mr Owen’s sentiment was reflected by three UK police commissioners who said the prosecution of marijuana-related crimes should not be a priority for police forces.
While Jason Reed, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) said criminalising marijuana users was now viewed as a “barbaric idea” by many in society.
The relaxation of laws around medicinal marijuana is commonly seen as a stepping stone to recreational legalisation. However medicinal cannabis also remains outlawed in the UK, despite experts urging the government to relax the laws claiming the restrictions mean British patients are “suffering unnecessarily”.
In the US, 23 states have moved to legalise medicinal marijuana while four of those have done the same for recreational use.
Many in the UK want to see the drug become legal.
Source: Supplied
WHERE IS AUSTRALIA ON THE ISSUE?
Outside of the enduring efforts of the HEMP party, few actors are calling for recreational legalisation with any sort of impact. However advocates for medicinal marijuana have enjoyed growing traction in the past year and look set to usher in laws governing its use.
Buoyed by Tony Abbott’s proclaimed support in September 2014, legalisation campaigners have found increasing support in government.
It was revealed this week that a tripartisan committee made up of Coalition, Labor and crossbench senators is expected to strongly support a bill to establish a medical marijuana regulator later this year.
Led by Greens Leader Richard Di Natale, the committee is due to deliver its report on August 10, and sources told Fairfax that it will back the legislation despite legal and practical concerns expressed by the Health Department.
Meanwhile, PhytoTech Medical completed a merger with MMJ Bioscience in a move that will allow the Australian-listed group to become a farm-to-pharmaceutical medical marijuana company. The merger was completed yesterday and leaves the company primed to supply a potential future market in Australia.
Whether medical marijuana takes hold this year remains to be seen, but as the debate around the status of the drug continues to unfold, any dramatic changes to the law in the UK will be heard loud and clear down under.
Greens New Leader Richard Di Natale at Parliament House in Canberra.
Source: News Corp Australia
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