Will other colleges follow suit?
Students at NUI Galway will be asked to vote on a referendum calling for the legalisation of cannabis that will be held in the college next week.
According to the Galway Advertiser, the NUIG Students’ Union could become the first student body in Europe to support the legalisation, regulation, cultivation, sale, and possession of cannabis for over 18s if a ‘yes’ vote prevails at the referendum on Thursday week, March 5.
The campaign has already gained support at NUIG from the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Society, the Misneach Society, the Socialist Society, and the NUIG Sinn Féin Cumann.
MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, who has long advocated the legalisation of cannabis, will speak at a public talk being held by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Society in the O’Flaherty Theatre in NUIG this Friday, February 27, at 7.30pm.
He will be joined on the night by Garda whistle blower John Wilson and EU Independent candidate and glaucoma sufferer Mark Fitzsimons, who are both advocates of legalising the drug.
Should a ‘yes’ vote be passed, it does not mean that students in NUIG can go around smoking cannabis all of a sudden, but it would mandate the NUIG Students’ Union to support the legalisation of cannabis.
Commenting on the referendum, Ciarán Maher of The Students for Sensible Drug Policy Society told the Advertiser: “Any society that claims to value personal liberty should leave adults free to consume cannabis if they so wish.
“By legalising and regulating cannabis we would be taking control of this very profitable industry out of the hands of criminal gangs and into the legitimate economy, creating huge revenue and thousands of jobs in the process.”
It’ll certainly be interesting to see the outcome of the referendum next week and to see if other third-level institutions in Ireland will follow suit if a ‘yes’ vote is passed.
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