Should Cannabis be legalised?

Part of me would say yes, purely to take a load of work off the police who spend a huge amount of time chasing users about and seizing small quantities.

But given cannabis is often referred to as a gateway drug, legalising it will inevitably encourage people to give it a go. I feel the consequence will be a big uptake in more harmful drugs which will wipe out any saving in police time.

If it were though we should adopt high import tarrifs to encourage a domestic industry (we usually oppose these to keep costs down but I have no sympathy for drug users so I have no problem in inflating prices).

That's fine. The UK is already the word's largest producer and exporter of medical cannabis. We are fully tooled up to reap the benefits of a huge domestic industry but for some reason we'd rather those £billions go to criminal enterprises.

Do you have any evidence at all for the claim in your second paragraph?

I didn't (as I would have thought it's common sense that making something legal would result in more people using it, than when it was illegal). However a quick search reveals Amsterdam are trying to ban tourists from consuming cannabis there due to a "worrying interdependence between the soft and hard drug trade". I would have thought Amsterdam is a good example for us here in the UK, compared to the US which is remarkably different in terms of policing. People seem to skim over the possibility that hard drugs could become more widely-used, not knowing how devastating drugs can be.

Amsterdam is not a good case study for legalisation. For one thing, it's not legal - just heavily decriminalised. NL have a pretty ridiculous system whereby criminal gangs remain in control of the entire supply line and there's basically nothing the government can do about it because they have grown so poweful. I believe the long term goal of this new policy is to starve the gangs of income from tourism so the government can take control of the industry and enact sensible reforms. Nobody should be seeking to replicate what they have over there. America and Canada provide much better examples because the industry is actually regulated, which is what most proponents for legalisation argue for.

As someone who generally believes individuals are far better placed to make decisions about their own lives rather than relying on the government to carry them through life, yes.

As someone who generally believes individuals are far better placed to make decisions about their own lives rather than relying on the government to carry them through life, yes.

Recreational drugs, like cannabis, are nothing but harmful to its users, and also to those who try to live responsible lives.
Nothing good can come from the legalisation of cannabis.
It will be one of the single greatest mistakes we will ever make, and one that is irreversible.

I didn't (as I would have thought it's common sense that making something legal would result in more people using it, than when it was illegal). However a quick search reveals Amsterdam are trying to ban tourists from consuming cannabis there due to a "worrying interdependence between the soft and hard drug trade". I would have thought Amsterdam is a good example for us here in the UK, compared to the US which is remarkably different in terms of policing. People seem to skim over the possibility that hard drugs could become more widely-used, not knowing how devastating drugs can be.

Nonsense. A society needs direction and rules. People shouldn't have the freedom to fail. After all, it's a government's duty to make sure it's steering its inhabitants towards prosperity. Recreational drugs, like cannabis, are nothing but harmful to its users, and also to those who try to live responsible lives.

Nothing good can come from the legalisation of cannabis. It will be one of the single greatest mistakes we will ever make, and one that is irreversible.