Five European parliamentarians from different parties and countries have founded a group for legalization of cannabis in Europe.
After the historic meeting for the legalization of cannabis at European level, held last July 15th between the ministers of Germany, Holland, Luxembourg and Malta, was born Legalize It: a group of MEPs who claim the personal use of marijuana as a right.
The team is made up of: Cyrus Engerer for Malta, Monica Semedo for Luxembourg, Mikuláš Peksa for Prague, Dorian Rookmaker for the Netherlands and Luke “Ming” Flanagan for Ireland and in July, with a letter addressed to the entire European Parliament, they explained why joining this cause is a common sense choice.
We can read: “As members of the European Parliament, we believe it is our duty to bring to light the issues relating to violation of personal freedoms of EU citizens. We believe that, as parliamentarians, we must be sincere and not be afraid to touch on topics that may be taboo for some, due to misconceptions and misinformation. One of them is personal use of cannabis."
And again, "The inclusion of cannabis in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the resulting prohibition policies across the EU have caused more harm than good".
Why we need to legalize cannabis
In videos of presentation published on YouTube, the group highlighted how dangerous the prohibition of cannabis for its consumers who are forced to turn to the black market and what are the countless benefits of legalization.
"I join this group because I believe that legalization would have many advantages - begins Flanagan - including removing the substance from criminal clandestineness, so as to make it infinitely safer for all its consumers."
"I am in favor of personal responsibility, because the freedom arises from personal responsibility. - Rookmaker continues - The government should not decide whether or not you should use cannabis. It should be your decision."
"Just as Europe is an area of freedom, so too should personal cannabis consumption be a space of freedom. - Peksa underlines - In my country, Czechia, it is allowed to grow up to five plants freely. Yet in neighboring Slovakia you could be sentenced to 15 years for the same thing. For citizens this is really difficult to accept and does not provide any legal certainty. We must fight to guarantee everyone the same freedom."
And Semedo again: "If someone decides to consume cannabis, they should have access to a safe product and we must focus on transparent information, education and risk reduction programs, especially for young people."
"No one should go to prison for a joint - concludes Erenger - but it still happens to many people. Where I come from, Malta, we are the first European country to fully legalize cannabis. It's time to discuss cannabis, our personal freedoms and rights."
| For further information: "Malta is the first country in Europe to legalize marijuana"
