The Legalization of recreational cannabis in Poland.

Michał Oskroba
24 cze 2020
3 minut(y) czytania

Zaktualizowano: 3 paź 2020

Marijuana is a drug that has been getting a lot of attention lately, many countries have started to legalize it or at least decriminalize it. But what is the difference? Decriminalization means that possession or consumption of cannabis will not be penalized, while legalization gives the legal right not only for consumption but also for cultivation and trade. So what effect would legalization have on the Polish economy and society?

Let's start with the negative aspects. Contrary to popular belief, marijuana doesn’t have a bad influence on your health as long as it is used at the right age. A 2014 research from Duke University found that frequent usage of marijuana before the age of 25 (when your brain finishes development) can lead to “severely impaired intelligence, slower reaction times, shorter attention spans, and poorer listening”. But when more recent studies took smoking and drinking into account, the results were unclear. However, all those studies agree on the fact that at the right age, the consumption of cannabis does not pose a danger to health. Smoking marihuana in „joints” can have some negative effects on your respiratory tract, because of the paper emitting noxious substances while burning, but there are safe alternatives like vaporizers or edible cannabis.

One of the problems that the legalization of cannabis may cause is a spike in the number of people addicted to it. While addiction to marijuana is more psychological than physical, it's still a real problem and the government might end up having to finance rehabilitation and other help. Legalization might also make it easier for teenagers to acquire this drug (assuming it would be legal for adults similar to tobacco or alcohol), which could have a particularly negative effect on adolescents. Even if the Duke University study is wrong, marijuana is considered by many to be a gateway drug, meaning that after teenagers try cannabis, they will move on to more dangerous substances. This linkage wasn't proven but still remains a possibility.

How could Poland benefit from the legalization of marijuana?

Paradoxically, legalization would lead to marijuana being safer. People who use cannabis in Poland cannot legally buy it, so they have to get it from the black market, where essentially you don’t even know what you buy. Cannabis cultivation is not regulated and farmers do selective breeding to achieve increasing THC (a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) levels, cannabis is sprayed with unknown substances to make it grow faster and bigger. In some cases, you may not be actually buying marihuana, but a crushed and dried random plant that was dipped in an unknown substance. Cannabis from the black market often does have negative health effects and can cause the so-called “bad trips”. The legalization would put a stop to all of this by making regulations on cultivation and trade. Consumers would know how much THC and CBD (another psychoactive ingredient) particular cannabis contains, just like they know how much alcohol their liquor contains. How would legalization impact Poland’s economy? Seeing that cannabis consumption is high and growing, it would create a lot of business opportunities and, in consequence, workplaces in cultivation, packaging, transport, and trade. It would also probably increase Poland’s GDP. Moreover, legalization would lead to a significant influx of money to Poland’s budget, because of excise and income taxes, since the marijuana trade would no longer be in the black economy. In conclusion, legalization of marihuana would have it’s good and bad sides, but In my opinion, in this case, the pros outweigh the cons. Poland has some of the harshest laws in the world when it comes to cannabis, and a lot of young people every year are sent to prison for possessing even small amounts of marijuana (and therefore waste their time, and taxpayers’ money, as they rot in prison). I believe that legalization would be beneficial to both Poland’s government and its society.