British scientific group calls for legalisation of cannabis
A scientific organisation in the UK is recommending that cannabis be legalised as its use is less harmful than drinking or smoking cigarettes.
In a review out today, the Beckley Foundation says cannabis can have a negative impact on health, but it is "considerably less harmful" than alcohol or tobacco.
The group says prohibition of the drug has had little or no impact on supply and has only served to turn users into criminals.
It says many of the harms associated with cannabis use are a direct result of this prohibition, particularly the social harms that arise from arrest and imprisonment.
Legalising the drug, it says, would allow it to be regulated and make it easier to stop children becoming users.
