Should Australia Legalise Marijuana

On January 2nd 2014, the Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) party’s president Michael Bladerstone called for a referendum on whether Australia should legalise the sale and consumption of marijuana, also known as cannabis. This came into action following Colorado’s decision to legalise the distribution and use of this particular drug. The HEMP party is pushing for the legalisation of marijuana for personal and medical use. I believe that marijuana should be made legal to the Australian public due to its extensive medical benefits, the fact that it is a lot safer than alcohol and for the economic benefits that it would bring to our Government.Marijuana has been used as a medicine for thousands of years in countries all over the world. Medical cannabis is used to increase the appetite in patients with HIV, AIDS and cancer, to reduce nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy, to reduce the symptoms of chronic pain, to help relieve spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis and Tourette’s and to stop seizures caused by Epilepsy.The Herald Sun undertook and investigation that found that up to 10 Victorian children, some as young as three, are taking daily doses of medical cannabis and in some cases it is being administered by teachers as desperate parents turn their backs on ineffective pharmaceutical drugs.On the 12th of January the Herald Sun also published an article about an eight year old girl called Tara O’Connell who suffered from Epilepsy and was having up to 60 seizures a day. This little girl could no longer walk or talk and was given only months to live. That was until her mother Cheri started giving her doses of liquid cannabis. One year on, she is now a bubbly eight-year old who no longer needs a wheelchair to get around. The only side effects that she experienced were an increase in appetite and fatigue. Imagine all the children whose lives could be saved and change for the better if medical marijuana was made legal and made accessible to everyone. Think of