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51% Of Brits Support Legalization Of Cannabis

51% Of Brits Support Legalization Of Cannabis


A recent poll conducted by BMG Research in the United Kingdom found that 51 percent of participants are backing legislation that will allow cannabis to be sold in shops in a similar fashion to tobacco and alcohol. The poll also found that the majority of participants support decriminalization, which would free up police to deal with more serious crimes.

This poll comes days after cannabis oil was legally brought into the United Kingdom to treat a boy for epilepsy. There were more than 1,500 people who participated in the poll, which asked whether cannabis should be legalized, “so that it is sold legally within a government regulated market in the same way alcohol and tobacco is.”

22 percent of these backed the movement whilst another 29 percent somewhat supported it. 19 percent strongly opposed it, with 16 percent somewhat opposing it. The remaining 14 percent neither opposed or supported it.

Another question was posed to the respondents;

“To what extent would you support or oppose cannabis be decriminalised, so that it is still a controlled substance not available for sale on the market, but that it is not criminalised (i.e. no prosecution for possession)?”

More than half of the respondents backed this; with 20 percent strongly supporting it, 32 percent somewhat supporting it, 17 percent somewhat opposing it, 16 percent strongly opposing it, and 15 percent did not know.

Police chief MIke Barton with Durham police has said that the drug should be legalized, saying “the status quo is not tenable. It’s getting worse. Drugs are getting cheaper, stronger, more readily available and more dangerous. I have come reluctantly over the years to the conclusion that we need to regulate the market.”

If legalized, it is estimated the regulating the sale of marijuana could generate £3.5 billion in revenue each year for the government.