Cannabis reform: a socialist response
As the movement for legal cannabis gains momentum worldwide, the left must reject libertarian logic and think seriously about how it can best be integrated into social life safely, writes ISAAC KNEEBONE-HOPKINS
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ON JANUARY 25, 2022 the Thai Narcotics Control Board announced it would drop cannabis from the list of controlled drugs. This de facto decriminalises the drug, making Thailand the first country in south-east Asia to do so.
In the US an estimated 428,000 people now work in the legal cannabis industry with 38 states allowing medical marijuana and 18 states having legalised recreational use too.
In Europe Germany, Luxembourg and Malta all announced last year that they would be moving towards legalising recreational use.
There’s momentum behind the global campaign to legalise cannabis and good reasons for socialists to join the push. In Britain according to a YouGov poll 52 per cent support cannabis legalisation.
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Germany has scaled back its recreational cannabis plans to avoid falling foul of EU laws. That means full marketisation is on hold for now — but that is not a bad thing, argues ISAAC KNEEBONE-HOPKINS
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