Veloso, Ralph Nino L.

Legal Research A
Legalization of Marijuana: A Comparative Study.

Marijuana or Cannabis sativa has been widespread in terms of its

cultivation and use all around the world. It has been in existence since
ancient times and used for its supposed medical properties. The present
debacle that the world has been facing with respect to the Cannabis sativa
dilemma has shifted from whether should the use of marijuana is to be
legalized to how can the use of marijuana be legalized and properly
regulated from cultivation up to its distribution/sale1.
In the 19th century, measures have been taken by various governments in
order to curb the rising consumption of marijuana. These measures ranges
from black propaganda to insinuating if not, exaggerating the effects of the
aforementioned herb, up to instituting penalties in which in which over the
course of time, prescriptive periods of punishment grew afflictive. But the
strategy of criminalizing the use of marijuana has not really curbed its use,
where the measures implemented to curtail its distribution is costing
governments with added expenditure2.
Criminalizing the use of marijuana has been strictly enforced still in many
countries, where arrests can be made from even the simple possession of the
substance. In Asia, the severity of these penalties is with respect to the
amount of the substance carried, where the larger the amount carried the
severe the sentence to be implemented. But in western countries, the
punishment is much more less, and some of these countries are moving
away from the pattern of criminalizing the use of Marijuana and instead, are
implementing methodologies on decriminalizing its usage.
In decriminalizing the use of Marijuana, some western countries
adopted innovations in terms of the production of Cannabis sativa and its
consumption. European countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, removed
the criminal penalties incurred for the possession of any small amounts of
psychoactive drugs.
In the case of Italian government, it adopted the relaxation of drug use
to ensure that there were no hindrances or barriers to prevent heroin users
and addicts from seeking medical treatment, where the country was plagued
by the heroin epidemic at that time3.
1 Collins, John. (2015), Weed World: Lessons from Marijuana Legalization
Around the Globe.
2 Gerber, R., 2004. Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition
Politics
3 Marlise Simmons, Rising Heroin Use and Addict Deaths Alarm Italy, Where drug Is Legal, New
York Times. October 8, 1989.MacCoun, R.J, P. Reuter (2001) Drug War Heresies: Learning from
other Vices, Times and Places New York, Cambridge University Press.

Veloso, Ralph Nino L.

Legal Research A
Legalization of Marijuana: A Comparative Study.

In the case of Spain, the measure was adopted as part of the rejection of the
highly intrusive state that has been created in the Franco regime, where the
measure was not purely relating to drug policy.
Portugal also decriminalized all drugs, where in the early 90s, the
country experienced a rapid increase in terms of usage of drugs in non
medical purposes. The rising situations of drug dependency lead to its
decision to decriminalize both soft (Marijuana, Hemp) and hard drugs
(Cocaine, Heroine) in a bold effort by the government to reduce drug use
and to smoothly facilitate treat programs, where its results can be collated to
further improve ways on how to curb drug use. It was spearheaded by the
Commission for a National Drug Strategy, where its central tenets are to
treat drug addicts not as criminals, but of patients suffering from a disease.
Trafficking and production of illegal substances are still punishable by
criminal sanctions. The offender is brought before a panel that consists of
medical and legal professionals, to determine whether or not the shows signs
of drug addiction. If found to have no signs of addiction and of no previous
convictions the trial is suspended, but if there is a previous conviction, it can
result to a verbal warning, a fine, or in some cases, loss of professional
licenses and also filing of administrative actions 4.
The approach to decriminalization employed by the Portuguese Government
involves great emphasis on prevention of use and proper education on the
effects of the use of illegal drugs. Drug addicts and dependents were not
treated as criminals but as patients needing medical and psychological care5.
In Netherlands where it is famous for its tolerance of Cannabis adopted a
policy of the non-enforcement for the violations involving the possession of
drugs, where the drug policy is marked by distinguishing between so called
soft and hard drugs where Cannabis or marijuana/hemp falls under the
former. The Dutch Ministry of Justice called such policy as gedoogbeleid
(tolerance policy)6 with regard to the category on soft drugs: an official

4 McCaffrey, Hugh. 2010. A bitter pill to swallow: Portugals lessons for drug law reform in
NewZealand. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review.

5 Greenwald, Glenn. Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating

Fair Policies and Successful Drug Policies.
6 Drugs | Rijksoverheid.nl. Justitie.nl. Retrieved 2011-04-20

Veloso, Ralph Nino L.

Legal Research A
Legalization of Marijuana: A Comparative Study.

guideline instructing public prosecutors under which circumstances

offenders should not be prosecuted. The current gedoogbeleid policy
restricts possession and cultivation of Cannabis for personal use up to the
maximum of five grams only. Different to the policy adopted by Portugal
which covers leniency on both soft and hard drugs.
Selling and distribution of marijuana is also limited only to coffee shops of
the said country, provided that the coffee shops adhere to the prescribed
rules or toleration criteria, where 1st: must not cause any nuisance, 2nd: not
permitted to sell hard drugs; 3rd: not permitted to sell cannabis to minors; 3rd:
not permitted to advertise drugs; and 5th: not permitted to sell large quantities
(over 5 grams of cannabis) in a single transaction. Failure to comply results
to minor infractions of the law, punishable by fines, and worst, revocation of
business license. As for the offending individual, only light punishment is
given such as verbal warning, and fines. The current policy of Netherlands
that tackles on illicit drugs comes from The Opium Law of 1976, where it
essentially places more focus on hard drugs7.
The measure is adopted by the government in order to curb the rising
number of drug related abuse and crimes in the country. Where before a
person is allowed to buy such psychoactive substance, certain requirements
must be complied first, such as the person must be a resident of Netherlands
who lives in a Dutch municipality, must be registered and of legal age, and
before a person can be allowed to buy such substances, the person must
produce a valid identity document.
But in terms of enforcement, it is Germany that has the strictest
implementation in terms of drug related policies. In the 1980s Germany
pursued a harm reduction strategy after years of increasing drug use and
related crimes8. Possession of illicit substances is considered as a criminal
offense under the Narcotic Act, where offenders are sent to proper medical
and treatment facilities instead of penal institutions. In 1994, the Federal
Constitutional Court of Germany held that the criminalization of controlled
substances was in line with the German Constitution. It also set out new
standards in trying/charging those persons who comes under the possession
of these psychoactive substances. Prosecutors, with the courts approval, can
continue or drop the charges in cases of possession of small amounts of
illegal drugs9.

7 www.government.nl, Government of Netherlands, Toleration policy regarding

soft drugs and coffee shops
8 Fischer, B. J Public Health Pol (1995) 16: 389. doi:10.2307/3342618

Veloso, Ralph Nino L.

Legal Research A
Legalization of Marijuana: A Comparative Study.

Germany also has invested heavily in the prevention and treatment borrowed
from other countries in order to improve its harm reduction strategy in
combating and decriminalizing the use of Marijuana and other effluents10.
Comparing the different models embraced by the three countries in
decriminalizing marijuana and other drug effluents, all the three has
embraced the principle of harm reduction, where it is defined a set of
practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences
associated with drug use. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social
justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use
drugs.11 But in a specific manner, Portugal utilizes the anti-prohibitionist
model on drugs, while Germany on the contrary uses the prohibitionist
model. And in terms of the results in the latest statistical bulletin published
by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Portugal
has the lowest rate of Cannabis use in age levels 15-34 (young adults) and
up to the age of 64, while Netherlands on the contrary has the highest rate of
Cannabis use. This can be inferred from too much relaxation of the laws
regulating marijuana and the use of other psychoactive substances.
Drug use in the Philippines has been very rampant, where almost all sectors
of the society has been afflicted with the drug dilemma particularly the use
of Cannabis or Marijuana which is quite accessible due the fact that it is
quite is easy to cultivate and is relatively cheap compared to other drugs.
And the efforts made by the government to combat drug related crimes has
been bloody and dehumanizing where countless lives has been shed in an
effort to curtail its spread.
The legalization of Marijuana here in the Philippines will greatly curb
the rate of drug prevalence here in the country, provided that there must
adequate medical support and treatment offered to drug addicts and
dependents which is sorely lacking here in the Philippines. As it can be seen
by the progress made by our authorities, ending drugs through brute force is
proven to be ineffective and even the punishment that are being mete out is
gravely afflictive , wherein these persons are considered outcasts in our
society, limiting their chances to be reformed and become productive
members of our society.

9 European Monitoring Center for Drug and Drug Addiction, 2016.

10 Wade, Marianne. 2009. Prosecutorss and Drugs Policy: A Tale of Six
European Systems.
11 http://harmreduction.org/, Principles of Harm Reduction.

Veloso, Ralph Nino L.

Legal Research A
Legalization of Marijuana: A Comparative Study.