Hall W
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2001 May 1;62(3):163-74. doi: 10.1016/s0376-8716(00)00171-x.
The debate about cannabis policy in Australia has revolved around the harms that cannabis causes to users and the community, on the one hand, and the harms that are caused by the prohibition of its use, on the other. This paper assesses evidence on: (1) the harms caused to users and the community by cannabis use (derived from the international scientific literature) and (2) the harms that arise from prohibition (as reflected in Australian research). The most probable harms caused by cannabis use include: an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents; respiratory disease; dependence; adverse effects on adolescent development; and the exacerbation of psychosis. The harms of the current prohibition on cannabis use policy are less tangible but probably include: the creation of a large blackmarket; disrespect for a widely broken law; harms to the reputation of the unlucky few cannabis users who are caught and prosecuted; lack of access to cannabis for medical uses; and an inefficient use of law enforcement resources. Cannabis policy unavoidably involves trade offs between competing values that should be made by the political process. Australian cannabis policy has converged on a solution which continues to prohibit cannabis but reduces the severity of penalties for cannabis use by either removing criminal penalties or diverting first time cannabis offenders into treatment and education.
澳大利亚关于大麻政策的辩论一方面围绕大麻对使用者及社区造成的危害展开，另一方面则聚焦于大麻使用禁令所带来的危害。本文评估了以下两方面的证据：（1）大麻使用对使用者及社区造成的危害（源自国际科学文献），以及（2）禁令所产生的危害（体现在澳大利亚的研究中）。大麻使用最可能造成的危害包括：机动车事故风险增加；呼吸系统疾病；成瘾；对青少年发育产生不良影响；以及使精神病病情加重。当前大麻使用禁令政策所带来的危害不太明显，但可能包括：催生庞大的黑市；对一项广泛被违反的法律缺乏尊重；对那些不幸被抓获并被起诉的少数大麻使用者的声誉造成损害；医疗用途无法获取大麻；以及执法资源的低效利用。大麻政策不可避免地涉及在相互冲突的价值观之间进行权衡，而这应由政治进程来做出决策。澳大利亚的大麻政策已趋向于一种解决方案，即继续禁止大麻，但通过取消刑事处罚或将初犯大麻者转至治疗与教育环节，来减轻对大麻使用的处罚力度。
