Tobacco like other illicit drugs contains many harmful chemicals such as nicotine or tar as compared to cannabis, which is organically grown and has health benefits for individuals as it does contain harmful chemicals.
If cannabis were to be legalized in Australia it would help to prevent people from smoking illegally, smuggling cannabis, drug trafficking and trades. In Australia, over 250 million dollars per year is spent on law enforcement for illicit drugs (Rozzoli, 1994). Advantage of legalizing cannabis would mean that the money spent for law enforcement of illicit drugs mean that it could be put to other harmful drugs in society such as heroin or the government could use the money to create education programs about how to use the drug and services where cannabis would be licensed therefore regulators control its potency of tetrahydrocannabinol. With the legalization of cannabis reducing smuggling, illegal smoking, and the black market this would help with the cost to society as less money would be spent on interdiction, enforcement, court, and prison costs. .
Medical use could benefit form the legalization of cannabis in Australia, as it could assist pain relief, nausea, vomiting, appetite stimulation, and neurological conditions (Smith, 2013). Marijuana is found to help relieve intense such as cancer pain, therefore if cannabis was decriminalized patients suffering from acute pain could purchase it from pharmacy under careful guidelines to help their pain and would also benefit pharmacies income. The medical use of marijuana also contributes to stimulating appetite and helping to prevent nausea and vomiting which may also assist individuals with cancer. Disadvantages on legalizing cannabis include individuals not claiming tax on growing their own therefore it becomes illegal, as they are hiding it from the government. This may then increase the cannabis trading and selling to start again.
