The independent drug policy charity Transform has launched a £50,000 crowdfunder to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis in the UK.
Founded in 1996, Transform promotes drug policy reform in the UK and across the world. The charity has published numerous reports and publications on how to regulate legal markets for the non-medical use of cannabis safely.
Transform states that the ongoing legalisation of cannabis in other countries, such as Germany, provides an opportunity to highlight the failures of cannabis prohibition in the UK. The unregulated cannabis market, the charity says, puts the health and safety of the public, particularly young people, at risk.
“Cannabis laws designed to reduce, and ultimately eradicate, cannabis use and the illegal market, have been an abject failure,” Transform said. “These laws have existed for fifty years yet there are 2.5 million people using cannabis in the UK every year, supplied by a market worth £2.5 billion, a market which remains in control of organised crime.
“Not only is cannabis prohibition fuelling crime and ensuring that all the profits of this ever expanding market goes untaxed, into the pockets of organised crime groups but it is also maximising the health risks associated with use.”
More than half of people in The UK support the legalisation of cannabis, a figure that increases to 80% amongst Gen Z and 67% amongst millennials. Transform hopes that by raising £50,000 they will be able to work with policymakers to enact legislative change and raise public awareness about the benefits of cannabis reform by:
• Working with key experts and impacted communities, to produce a detailed vision for how cannabis should be responsibly regulated for adult use in the UK, supported by a roadmap for how to deliver it.
• Producing a groundbreaking new analysis that will lay out the economic opportunities of a regulated cannabis market for the UK, both cost savings and tax revenues, ensuring it receives the attention of the new Government, as well as the wider public.
• Increasing positive media coverage and public understanding of cannabis reforms.
• Analysing global cannabis reforms and learning lessons for the UK on what’s worked, and what hasn’t. Building cross-party support in Parliament, promoting and informing debate in both houses, in all party groups, and in select committees, as well as developing a Private Members Bill to serve as a rallying point for reform in Westminster.
The charity has a commitment to remaining independent, receiving no government funding and refusing money or gifts from companies in industries that may profit from a legal cannabis market, including pharmaceutical, alcohol and tobacco companies. The crowdfunding campaign runs until 30th September and can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/legaliseukcannabis
This story first appeared on leafie, view here
Author: Liam O’Dowd
