Should The UK Hire Ex-Drug Dealers When Weed Is Legalized?

Whilst there is much controversy over the legalization of marijuana in the UK, despite the recent legalization of prescribing medical cannabis for rare forms of epilepsy, there may be more when considering the potential job prospects of former drug dealers, as American representatives have argued that drug dealers could offer more help than harm in the legal trade.

Shaleen Title, the legal cannabis sales commissioner in Massachusetts, spoke to British Parliament last week, at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, and suggested that Britain should train and employ drug dealers to work for the legal weed industry. A similar project has begun in Boston, which she highlighted: ‘We are on our first project with 150 people and we put a bid to vendors who can teach them how to produce cannabis that is regulated. It also includes an ownership program to train people who were once entrepreneurs in the underground market.’

She continued: ‘They have skills already, of course, gleaned over a long number of years. It is a way to give people and the voters that backed legalization in our referendum what they wanted. They did not want to hand the industry over to a few giant corporations that are going to exploit it…If for years under drug prohibition you have this security focus on these communities, then after legalization you can hardly say to them, ‘oh never mind now, big corporations will take this business off you, they will take it from here.’ How is that fair?’

If marijuana is legalized, the UK is predicted to make £3.5 billion a year, yet if this happens, the futures of many who have been previously charged with any related offenses will be in question. Large companies and corporations will probably want to get their hands dirty on this new business venture, yet the rights and protections of those that have been affected by the illegal cannabis industry should be at the forefront.

Maybe the British government will follow Luxemburg in removing weed laws instead of following Brexit.

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