Following a report by Ben Ramanauskas of the TaxPayers’ Alliance which covered everything from police spending, prisons, courts, NHS it seems legalisation would help so many other parties.
The probation service and police would look to have savings of £191million a year, the NHS could gain £132.6million from none prescribed drugs for sleeping tablets, pain relief and anti depressants.
“It is clear that the current attempts to prevent cannabis use are an enormous burden on taxpayers that mean their money isn’t spent on other priorities,” said writer of the report Ben Ramanauskas as he called for the UK to rethink its “heavy-handed” policies.
According to the report. there is evidence that the legalisation of cannabis could reduce further pressure on the criminal justice by reducing the consumption of other drugs. For example, a study by Dragone et al found that the legalisation of Cannabis in Washington State led to a decrease in the consumption of other drugs and also reduced binge drinking. If similar trends were seen in the UK, then the legalisation of cannabis could result in a reduction in serious crimes being committed and a decrease in the consumption other drugs. This would not only be welcome in and of itself, but would also bring savings to the criminal justice system of tens of millions of pounds
Read the full report here
Source: Unsplashed Michael Longmire
