As the world thinks back to alcohol banning in the 1930s with a puzzling perspective, it will no doubt also think back to the time of marijuana banning from the same point of view about fifty years from now. It could be a lot more intricate than that. As it's known, alcohol is regarded as a deadly drug with a high potential for addiction. That is not the situation with cannabis.
But maybe a look back at the historical disapproval of this time is not as far as fifty years away, but rather closer than we think. There is a high probability that the world might have fully decriminalized marijuana in ten years. Despite it all, the sector has come a long way in the single decade since voters in Washington and Colorado enacted referendums to start a recreational marijuana marketplace.
In Australia, as well as in Europe, the backing for recreational renovation has now gotten to a critical stage. From an online poll, carried out by the Essential Research polling company between the 30th of March and the 2nd of April of the year 2022, 50 percent of the respondents answered that they are in support of a full reform. The percentage of respondents in favor is twice what was recorded in a 2013 survey carried out by the National Drug Strategy Household research.
In just six years, this sea change has resulted in a doubling of support for reform in Australia.
More than this, 58 percent desire to make medical marijuana cheaper by permitting the personal growth of cannabis by patients, and 62 percent back the taking off of current laws driving drugs.
The massive shift in public perception also demonstrates strong opposition to the current government-sponsored drug policy, which has resulted in a 23 percent increase in arrests related to marijuana usage or possession in the same period.
According to the charity that commissioned the survey in Australia, Unharm, this occurrence also clearly displays that political leaders are out of touch with the desires of the society on this issue. And as a matter of fact, the necessity for drug policy reform both federally and internationally is an urgent one and is global as it is not only in Australia that this theme is common.
Cannabis Reform in Australia
At least on the matter of medical cannabis reform on a federal level, Australia has progressed, more or less, in lockstep with other countries. The national government, by October 2015, stated that the commercial growth of cannabis for scientific and medical reasons would be legalized. Since then, reform has slowly moved forward.
The vast majority of Australians believe that cannabis can be used for therapeutic purposes. According to the most recent NDSH poll, 84.4 percent of Australians support medicinal legalization, with majorities in every state and territory.
In theory, medicinal cannabis is legal in every state and territory, following a Commonwealth-wide approval in 2016. Obtaining medicinal cannabis is far more difficult in practice. Patients continue to have restricted access, with long wait periods and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures.
Cannabis legalization for recreational use is becoming increasingly popular around the world. Cannabis is already legal in Canada, Uruguay, Catalonia, and nine US states, with dispensaries springing up all over the country. As a result of this tendency, an increasing number of Australians are advocating for cannabis legalization. Support increased from 26 percent to 35.4 percent between 2013 and 2016.
Current data show that marijuana remains the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, with an estimate of 3.9 percent of the population of the world (which is around 192 million individuals) making use of the drug quite frequently. While for Australia, the numbers are far greater, with approximately 11 percent of the people using cannabis as of 2020, at least once a year.
Why Is There a Lack of Popular Support for Political Will Everywhere?
Public support for legitimization has gotten to the halfway point in other countries apart from Australia. Early this month, yet another research made it into the international news, stating that recreational reform is backed by more than 50 percent of Europeans. Change is supported by two-thirds of voters that support Democrats and just below half of Republicans in the United States. However, this differs by state.
For what reason, then, has reform including medical wise been delayed everywhere?.
Excuses Upon Excuses
At the federal level, there is an unacceptable unwillingness and kicking around almost everywhere. These delays include the excuse given over the past two years that governments all around were overwhelmed by the COVID pandemic or recently, the situation in Ukraine.
Aside from that, there are hints that the cause for increased support in surveys but a lack of it in the political aspect is that younger person (those under the age of 40) back recreational renovation while elderly people who vote frequently do not. According to a European academic study, there is no correlation at all. Younger folks don't seem to consume cannabis as much as older ones do.
What is being witnessed right now, in Europe, in the U.S.A, and without doubt, in Australia, is a reluctance to accept trending opinions by politicians in the nation, and even worse, an enthusiasm to use tax money to back up the banning infrastructure, with no regard for who they might hurt in the along the way.
Conclusion
The question on your mind now maybe, at what point will the tide ultimately turn in locations where reform is delayed? Just wait ten years. In certain regions, it will be even less.
Unfortunately, the level of suffering faced by both recreational cannabis users and medical cannabis users who have been criminalized by policies that are out of date is likely to spike during this time. It is a sad fact but, given human history and psychology, it is frequently such egregious injustices that manage to turn the tides during a moment of societal discontent and turmoil. Marijuana reform is, without doubt, will not be an exception.
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