In a column, Tharoor argued that when consumers buy cannabis from unregulated illegal black market trading, they are not aware about the components of the products they are consuming and its effect on their health.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has argued against banning cannabis, also known as marijuana, and suggested that India should regulate it to reduce its misuse, corruption and large-scale ignorance of its risks by the society.
The debate around legalisation of marijuana has been on across the world. In an article for The Print, Tharoor, along with his nephew Avinash Tharoor, opined that legalising it will give a boost to the economy and will also reduce corruption.
They said that when consumers buy cannabis from unregulated illegal black market trading, they are not aware of the components and their effect on their health.
The Tharoors argue that imposing tax on cannabis sales can create revenue that can be spent on educating people about the risks of cannabis use, as we already do with public service information on alcohol and tobacco.
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Tharoor writes that the international prohibition of cannabis has failed in every country. Stopping drug use, cannabis prohibition has fuelled violence and criminality, increased health harms, and cost society an exorbitant and immeasurable sum of money, he adds.
However, he also talked about the potential harms of cannabis consumption. He explained that prolonged use can have some severe effects on few people, especially teenagers and younger kids who start using cannabis at a young age. He said that legalising marijuana will only make it simple for officials to educate the younger generation about the risks of cannabis consumption.
Tharoor is not the first person to speak in favour of cannabis legalisation. Earlier Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi and Dharamvir Gandhi, a Member of Parliament from Patiala, have also argued in favour of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes.