Petition Forces UK Parliament to Debate Marijuana Legalization

A marijuana petition in Britain has recently received 158,000 signatures which forces parliament to debate marijuana legalization in September.

The United Kingdom government’s Petitions Committee agreed to officially respond to any petitions that reach 10,000 signatures and to debate in parliament if a petition reaches 100,000 signatures.

The petition calls for making “the production, sale and use of cannabis legal.” It also claims that “legalizing cannabis could bring in £900 million [$1.4 billion] in taxes every year, save £400 million [$623 million] on policing cannabis and create over 10,000 new jobs.”

Current UK law states that possession of cannabis can result in penalties of up to 5 years in prison.