Here is a list of some of the negative effects of the ban on cannabis:
The ban on hemp means that in addition to the coffeeshops and people who grow for their own use, an illegal market in hemp also exists. There is no possibility of control over this illegal market which leads to criminality, unsafe situations, and events that disturb the peace; and to which underage people have easy access.
The ban on hemp makes large scale crops and export of the product into a lucrative source of income for criminal organizations which can then use this income for other criminal activities, or ‘wash’ it via money laundering operations that can disturb the legal economy.
The ban on hemp encourages criminal and antisocial behavior: rules concerning safety and security (for growing and in the marketplace) are easily broken and this goes unpunished. Conflicts are resolved using violence.
The ban on hemp leads to an increase in prices, as the producer in an illegal market calculates their risk into the price.
The ban leads to a migration of tourists to coffeeshops near the borders of the country, and the operation of ‘drug runners’ to transport the product. Simple solutions for this problem such as the proposal for a so-called ‘Weed Boulevard’ with legal supply logistics are held back by the ban on cannabis.
The ban on hemp puts enormous pressure on the resources of the police and the justice system, which cannot then devote them to other, more important goals. Some of the methods used to enforce the ban limit the personal freedom of civilians and are a matter of contention in court.
The costs of enforcing the ban on hemp are not justified by the results. Although the goal of the ban (an essential reduction in supply and demand) fails to come a single step closer, the ban itself is never brought forward for discussion.
The ban on hemp damages the credibility of the government, given that the use of hemp continues to be firmly naturalized in society.
The (world-wide) ban on hemp is one of the pillars of the U.S. dominated War On Drugs, which has led to sizeable global violations of human rights; and severely damages both the environment, and the security of the populations of cannabis-producing lands.
The ban on hemp impedes the development of the industrial applications of the plant, which is capable of making a very valuable contribution to a sustainable future.
The ban on hemp makes it impossible to carry out standardized controls on the product. Therefore demands can hardly be placed on the product in terms of consistent quality, health, or accompanying information on the contents and effects of the product.
The ban on hemp leads to unwelcome and unhealthy practices in production which negatively affect the quality and effects of the product, and thereby damage the health of the consumer.
The ban on hemp criminalizes the hemp consumer (over one million Dutch people), with negative social consequences for the people in question, their relationships, their family, and their home and work environment.
The ban on hemp is a restriction of the right to freedom of expression. It legitimizes information about the supposed evils of cannabis, information that cannot be seriously tested for durability, credibility or truthfulness and yet is used as justification for the active enforcement of the ban.
The ban on hemp damages the right of the individual to make decisions about his / her own body.
The ban on hemp damages the right of the individual to possess a medicine that is necessary to maintain or support his or her health and wellbeing.
The ban on hemp dissuades doctors from prescribing it to patients who could benefit from the effects; and delays the process of recognition of its medicinal applications in the treatment of multiple afflictions such as HIV and AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, and chronic pain.
The ban on hemp denies the government the possibility of levying taxes on the product.
