UK: 'Legalise cannabis but ban fags and booze' under-30s tell new survey - Mirror Online

'Legalise cannabis but ban fags and booze' under-30s tell new survey - Mirror Online

 4 July 2015 By Chris Gee

Research conducted with students showed changing attitudes towards drugs - and one in four called for tobacco to be made illegal

 "" Less harm: Youngsters believe cannabis causes less damage than booze or cigarettes ""

Most people under 30 think cannabis should be legalised, according to a new study.
A survey of 1,000 younger people by Student Money Saver also found that one in four of them thought alcohol and cigarettes should be made illegal.
The research also showed a growth in the use of 'legal' highs with increased use of substances such as nitrous oxide and salvia.

The youngsters questioned saw more people thinking cannabis should be legal than tobacco, that 46 % of students agreed that there was a drug culture at their university and that 19% had had a blackout within the past year due to drugs or booze.
Amongst the young, nitrous oxide, or laughing gas and other 'legal' were popular with more than 20% having inhaled the gas.

""Should be banned: More young people said cigarettes should be outlawed than believe cannabis should be illegal""

But traditional drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis were still far more popular.
Asked about legalities, one respondent, aged 22-25, said: " Alcohol and tobacco already are, and they are proven to do more damage physiologically than cannabis so there is no reason not to legalise it."
Another teenager, added: "Making drugs legal would stop illegal drug trafficking.
Plus the fact that alcohol and tobacco are legal is just hypocritical. They are bad if not worse."
Another finding was that more than have those interviewed said they knew someone with an alcohol problem.
A spokesman for Student Money saver, said: "This survey supports the evidence that the young's interest in trying drugs is lessening, including alcohol.
"At the same time it shows that rather than a liberal "anything goes" attitude towards drug policy, young people are listening to the evidence and want policies based on it.
"They are less likely to cite "tradition" as a reason for wanting alcohol to remain legal, and 25% of people under 30 actually want it to be made illegal, and over half of people now think cannabis should be legal.
On the negative side, it's worrying that 45% of students thought that their university has a "druggy culture", 15% of the young still say they'd tried drugs due to "peer pressure" and well over half of those surveyed said they know someone with a drug or alcohol problem."

Should the recreational use of cannabis be de-criminalised in the UK?

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  83%
• NO
  17%

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