If Marijuana were to become legal, it would damage our society and cause an increase in drug abuse

    Educated researchers can only hypothesize about the effect marijuana legalization would have on our culture. We cannot fully predict what would happen, because there are countless factors affecting the situation. The only place where marijuana has been decimalized on a large scale is the Netherlands, so the only way we can study the effects of marijuana legalization on a culture is by studying the Dutch and their relatively new marijuana policies.

    A key to the Dutch Drug Policy is that it separates "Soft Drugs" from "Hard Drugs" and has separate laws regarding both. In this way, people seeking soft drugs will not come into contact with hard drugs, because soft drugs are largely decriminalized. Cannabis has been decriminalized for personal use, and can be purchased from "coffee shops" in small amounts. Some of the criteria the coffee shop owner must meet to be able to sell marijuana are:

1. no more than 5 grams per person may be sold in any one transaction;
2. no hard drugs may be sold;
3. drugs may not be advertised;
4. the coffee shop must not cause any nuisance;
5. no drugs can be sold to minors (under age 18), nor may minors enter the premises; and
6. the municipality has not ordered the establishment closed.

    In this way, any adult can purchase marijuana and smoke it while in a safe environment, without danger to themselves caused by dealing with drug dealers. And studies show that the drug policy in the Netherlands has been very effective. The availability of marijuana has "normalized" its use rather than "dramatized" it. Youth in the Netherlands don't see all the hype surrounding marijuana as North American youth do, and they are not compelled to try it. When the policy was introduced, use of marijuana increased slightly, because people saw that there was no danger surrounding it, while abuse lowered because people were able to learn how to use it responsibly. But the use of marijuana in the Netherlands is still lower than anywhere in the UK, Spain, Italy, and North America.

Sources:

1. http:///www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/ille-e/library-e/dolin1-e.htm#C.%20%20Current%20Legislation%20and%20Enforcement

2. http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/westerneurop/thenetherlan/

3. http://www.csdp.org/ads/dutch2.htm

4. http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/