For:
Current debates on cannabis policy are dominated by attempts to establish the potential health costs of use of cannabis. While accurate assessment of the potential harms of cannabis is desirable, it is at least as important to estimate the costs which are usually ignored of current cannabis controls.
Against:
Proponents of legalisation would have you believe that it is a harmless form of recreational pleasure. It is used mainly by responsible adults and the government has no place in interfering. Penalties for possession and use are disproportionate to the threat posed to the individual user or to society. Very few are harmed by its use: only a reckless minority gives responsible users a bad name by association. Besides, criminalisation fuels rather than prevents an illegal trade and fails to stamp out availability.
