Prohibition failed and legalize cannabis it's a matter of common sense, which goes beyond simply "smoking joints". A healthy choice, which brings countless benefits to the entire society.
1. Facilitate scientific advancement
Although studies regarding cannabis have grown exponentially in recent years, even reaching a historic record in 2020, the information available to us is still clearly limited, often due to the legislative constraint that prohibits this plant.
Legalization, on the other hand, would incentivize investments both public and private in the sector, thus allowing a more in-depth study of both cannabis itself and the functioning of the endocannabinoid system, essential for the correct functioning of our organism.
Advanced research thanks to which it could both define therapeutic plans tailored to the patient and develop new genetics for the treatment of certain pathologies.
2. (Really) protect citizens
Legalize means protect consumers, especially younger ones, for three main reasons:
- a regulated market would guarantee a checked product that respects quality standards, unlike the black market which trades unreliable products often mixed with harmful substances
- Since cannabis is a legal item that can be purchased from authorized shops, consumers should not deal directly with it mafias and risk finding yourself in unpleasant situations
- yes would reduce consumption among younger people, as minors, not being able to obtain supplies from legal channels, would have much more difficulty in recovering the substance
| For further information: "Legalization does not increase cannabis consumption among young people"
3. Empty the prisons
Our country spends approximately approx. on cannabis alone 600 million euros a year between law enforcement, judiciary and prison system. Money that can be invested in initiatives to support the population.
Besides that, as reported by the last one report by the Antigone Association, up to one in three prisoners, approximately 34.88% of the prison population, is in prison for drug-related crimes, most of which for cannabis.
Legalizing would therefore mean free the police, which, as found in countries where cannabis is legal, they would solve more violent crimes, and then empty the prisons which are full of simple users and small-time drug dealers.
4. Legalization is worth billions of euros a year
There are several studies that have estimated how much the legalization of cannabis in Italy would be worth. Among these, the one presented by the professors Ferdinand Ofria e Piero David of the Department of Economics of the University of Messina.
Among the direct and indirect economic benefits, the tax revenue stands out which would replenish the state coffers if a substance such as cannabis were reintroduced into the legal market and taxed like cigarettes. Revenue that touches i 6 billion of euros.
| For further information: "10 billion euros a year: the value of legalization in Italy"
5. Huge social benefits
Legalization brings countless social benefits. Among these, as happens in states that have opted for regulation, such as Colorado, the proceeds deriving from the legal cannabis market have supported various projects and socially useful initiatives, such as:
- the provision of scholarships
- the construction of new homes for the homeless
- funding for education and healthcare
6. A green industry with thousands of jobs
In America, with over 100 thousand new jobs expected for 2023, legal cannabis is the sector that provides the most jobs overall. A springboard for youth unemployment in Italy, among the highest in Europe, and the heavy economic crisis that weighs on our peninsula.
7. Cannabis is good for the planet
Cannabis is a resource for humans, which could lay the foundations for a more ecological and sustainable system. In fact, among the environmental benefits of hemp, remember that:
- hemp, thanks to its important qualities of phytoremediation, can absorb heavy metals and clean up the polluted soil where it is grown;
- hemp save the forests, as from this plant it is possible to obtain a paper of higher quality than that obtained from trees, plus it is already printable without the use of harmful chemical compounds used to whiten paper from wood fibre;
- hemp is an inexhaustible source of renewable energy from which we can derive:
- green fuels zero impact, such as biodiesel and hemp bioethanol, the same used by Henry Ford for his Hemp Body Car;
- hemp bioplastic, a natural, biodegradable and qualitatively better alternative to plastic derived from petroleum.
8. Take away the market from the mafias
As recently stated by the former national anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho, cannabis, with 67 tons, "remains the most seized narcotic", so legalizing it would mean "taking away an important slice of the illegal market from the mafiase of narcotics” and the resulting revenues.
