Latest Developments
On 2nd November, 2010, California's Proposition 19 failed to make marijuana legal in that state, by only a small percentage of voters. Many Californians who could have pushed the majority in the other direction were unable to vote, because those in prison or on parole for conviction of a felony are excluded from the right to vote. And that includes everyone who has been convicted of the very same offenses that Proposition 19 aimed to eradicate.Background
The world is divided, both in opinion and in law, over whether it is a good idea for marijuana to be legalized.
It is well known that marijuana has been legal in Holland for decades, and the open sale and smoking of cannabis in Amsterdam's coffee shops is a major tourist attraction. Yet violent crime typically associated with drug use is rare, and Amsterdam is one of the safest cities in the world.
And Portugal successfully decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Follow up research has indicated positive health outcomes, such as reduction in STDs and drug-related deaths, and no increase in youth drug use or drug tourism.
Canada was one of the first countries to regulate medical marijuana, in 2001. Canada is also home to the only safe injection site in North America, which does not allow marijuana or other inhalable drugs, but does allow injectable drugs such as heroin. More and more U.S. states have made medical marijuana legal, although the UK, with its long tradition in prescribing drugs such as heroin and methadone, has not.
