Wednesday 14 August 2013

Cannabis safe, but Hong Kong unmoved

Uruguay is legalising marihuana entirely, while many states in the USA are decriminalising its use.  But nothing moves Hong Kong, reports the South China Morning Post.  Not even the interesting lower chart at left, which plots the level of harm to oneself against harm to others (click to enlarge).
See where alcohol is: high on both scores; indeed higher than any other drug legal or not.
I know the argument that just because we allow alcohol, which is more harmful than, say, cannabis, that should not be an argument for allowing other drugs. But neither is it an argument against legalisation; indeed it's less so.  Especially when one considers the the crime and corruption associated with anything illegal, in the case of drugs, in the trillions of dollars since the beginning of the US's "War on Drugs".
The article is here (pdf).