The Great Debate - Legalization of Cannabis
The Great Marijuana Debate: An Argument For the Legalization of Marijuana From a Psychopharmacological Perspective Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Canada; it is the third most used psychotropic drug after alcohol and tobacco (Fischer, Rehm, & Hall, 2009; Health Canada, 2005). In 1999 Health Canada began the process of creating a controversial federally regulated medicinal cannabis program (Lucas, 2008). Today the debate over the issue of legalizing cannabis continues. In the medical research community there have been multiple studies demonstrating the current medical benefit of cannabis in addition to the great potential for the development of new drugs (Ashton, 2008; Frazetto, 2003). Politically, there is evidence that the criminalization of marijuana is ineffective in decreasing rates of use despite the exorbitant amount of government spending (Fischer, Rehm & Hall, 2009; Simons-Morton, Pickett, Boyce, ter Bogt, & Vollebergh, 2009; Wodak, 2008). In...