I am not a cannabis user. I have no experience with the drug, having believed for many years that it would all but kill me due to the education I received at school. I was scared that it could cause me to lose my mind and become heavily addicted were I to have the merest puff of a joint. I never had that worry regarding either tobacco or alcohol.

Frankly, I feel annoyed and let down by my country. You have decided on my behalf that I am free to kill myself with booze and fags, free of punishment, and that if I should burden the NHS with abuse of those drugs, I've probably paid enough in tax on those substances to make it alright.

I'll make my point. Cannabis has been shown to be less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol, and it's illegality forces consenting adults into the domain of criminal drug dealers which is likely funding terrorism at home and abroad (At least it has been shown to in the past). Fighting the war on drugs is costing the public huge amounts of money (£400 a year each!) and sapping police time. Punishing those consenting adults who are hurting themselves and others less than had they but a glass of wine and a cigarette, costs the taxpayer yet more money in electronic tags and room and board at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Conversely, studies have shown that the legalisation and regulation of cannabis would create a market worth £1.25bn a year. That money is still being spent. £300 million is spent chasing criminals by the exchequer, leaving almost a cool billion every single year flowing through criminal networks and potentially putting ordinary people like me and you in danger.

And with regulation, comes safety. The government can, and would, impose strict restrictions on contaminants and purity. Medical studies would become much easier to conduct without the common result-skewing presence of tobacco. We would surely all live happier and healthier lives, do you not agree?

Even with the illegality of the drug there is evidence for the usefulness of cannabis, or the active cannabinoids therein, in treating Cancer, Alzheimer's Disease (for which I have a genetic marker, so I do have some stake in this), Glaucoma, and even opiate addiction (opiate overdose kills many addicts, cannabis overdose is nigh impossible). Is it not preferable to allow people to try the drug of their own free will and without burdening the NHS if it can help them?

Increasingly I find myself wanting to see what all the fuss is about. Why do I find Seth Rogen and Family Guy so funny? Why are my cannabis smoking friends not dead yet? Why do they enjoy it so much? My own research has turned up few, if any, health issues associated with use of the drug, certainly not when compared with tobacco or when vaporised/ingested, though if I want to make the choice to find out for myself then I must become a criminal and risk interaction with potentially very serious criminals. Is it right to put me in that position?

So please, stop this foolishness. Legalise, regulate and tax cannabis for the good of all the people of Great Britain and set an example for the rest of the world.