The US states of Colorado and Washington have recently passed legislation that allows for the recreational use of marijuana.

In a nutshell, if you're over the age of 21, you can freely and legally purchase marijuana from a registered vendor in the state of Colorado, return to your home and smoke / vaporise / whatever to your heart's content.

The motion was voted through with a 55% margin and allowed for the commercial cultivation and sale of the substance in a manner not that dissimilar to alcohol.

In short, if you're an adult, in full use of your faculties and you want to smoke, you're entitled to do so and the local government has no bounds to prevent you. They even take a generous portion of the proceeds for tax purposes, too.

Colorado's adoption of the policy has been a landmark in US history and has been extremely successful. In its first month, Colorado's tax coffers took in almost TWO MILLION dollars in revenue. That's since levelled off, but it has become a steady stream of revenue for the local government.

Crime rates have been largely unaffected, anti-social behaviour levels the same and it's very much business as usual.

Holland, likewise, has had a long history of marijuana legalisation and strictly enforces local ordinances with regards to amounts of cannabis sold by premises and public consumption.

In short, wherever marijuana legalisation has taken place, there have been benefits and negatives. But in all cases, the local government has benefited from a steady stream of revenue and local police are free to pursue other cases of a more serious nature.

So why hasn't Ireland had a serious discussion about legalisation?

Luke Ming Flanagan has been one of the most vocal supporters of marijuana legalisation in Ireland and regularly speaks about his desire for a freer system in Ireland.

But who else? Drs. Garret McGovern and Cathal O Suilliobhain, both of whom regularly treat drug addicts, have called for legalisation of marijuana. At a conference in April of this year, Dr. McGovern called for a study to explore the effects of cannabis use and production in Ireland, stating that "nobody ever died from cannabis use."

Dr. McGovern went on to explain that if a drug is regulated, it can be studied with greater accuracy.

This flies in the face of the current government's policy, which has repeatedly called for more enforcement. According to Luke Ming Flanagan's 2013 motion in the Dail, if 150,000 people spent an average of €100 per month on cannabis and paid 13% tax, the exchequer could see a potential windfall of €60 million annually.

As always, the government's stance is conservative and hardline.

Our society is becoming more tolerant of views and opinions that are not of the previous generation.

Social mores are expanding and it's time government policy reflected this. At least 6 out of 10 people over the age of 21 have tried cannabis. As mentioned, at least 150,000 use cannabis on a regular basis.

If this was taken out of the hands of international (and national) drug lords and put into the light, we remove the criminal element. When it's safe, legal and above board, Irish adults are free to make their decision as to whether or not they'll consume cannabis.

At a time when the government is severely strapped for cash and resorting to wildly unpopular social charges and taxation, is it so out of the realms of possibility to consider legalising cannabis for the purposes of raising tax revenues?

Even a trial period, with heavily-monitored Garda presence, to explore the impacts on Irish society would be useful. After all, if nothing's ventured, then nothing's gained.

It's true, there may be negative effects. However, issues such as cannabis falling into the hands of underage people, proliferation of other drugs or abuse can be solved easily by enforcement and information.

The oft-quoted line of "cannabis as a gateway drug" becomes more hollow with each academic study. Just recently, a study by Emory University in the US found that marijuna legalisation simply did not lead to users partaking in harder drugs.

What do you think? Should Ireland consider legalisation? Or is it dangerous a step for Irish society?