Letters

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:26:52 +0000

Yes, legalise cannabis

Dear Editor,

Yes, it should be decriminalised and legalised for medicinal and recreational purposes.

People have been misinformed on Cannabis for a long time.

If developed countries like the USA, Germany, Holland and many others have legalised why should we keep on procrastinating?

Even science has enough evidence that Cannabis has no proven side effects that can endanger one’s health.

Don’t you think it’s funny that the 1st country to outlaw and prohibit marijuana use is now on the forefront advocating for legalisation?  Ignorant fools will say it can bring problems to this country like driving the youths mad because they have been indoctrinated to think in that manner.

Cannabis has a million more uses than the average Joe knows and it could even better our economy.

Anyone who wants to argue that marijuana is harmful to one’s physical and mental health, I challenge you to bring your evidence and I will bring mine and let’s debate. Knowledge is power!

Barotzsh Stax

Cannabis should not be legalised in Zambia

Dear Editor,

The President of the Medical Association of Zambia, Dr Mujajati says that marijuana should be legalised for medicinal purposes in Zambia.

I beg to disagree with his assertion because the proposal promulgates negativity and convolutes reason at the expense of productivity.

History

America and the world have seen such establishments. California voters legalised the sale of Marijuana in 1996, 22 more states, plus the District of Columbia, have followed suit; in a year’s time the number is likely to be near 30.

Sales to cannabis “patients” whose conditions range from the serious to the notional are also legal elsewhere in the Americas (Columbia is among the latest to license the drug) and in much of Europe. On February 10th, 2016 Australia announced similar plans.

Now a growing number of jurisdictions are legalising the sale of cannabis for pure pleasure-or impure, if you like.

In 2014, the American States of Colorado and Washington began sales of recreational weed: Oregon followed suit in October 2015 and Alaska will join them.

Jamaica has legalised ganja for broadly defined religious purposes. Spain allows users to grow and buy weed through small collectives.

Canada’s government plans to legalise cannabis this year, making it the first G7 country to do so.

In the western and developed world legalisers argue that regulated markets protect consumers, save the police money, raise revenues and put criminals out of business as well as extending freedom.

Looking at the above historical standpoint and current international situation, I opine, using the medicinal approach is just a diplomatic pretext or ladder to use cannabis for recreational use.

Chronic harm done by the drug is still a matter of debate.

Heavy marijuana use is associated with mental illness. Just because developed countries have lost their moral screws and have failed to control pot abuse does not mean African States including Zambia should follow suit.

We have our own cultures and way of doing things which we are very proud of in case our colleagues in the Western World did not know.

If weed is legalised, how do we keep it out of the reach of children if it will be enjoyed openly by adults who are supposed to be role models for good example?

If the country is so desperate to use weed for medicinal use I would rather we import already processed medicine from China or Jamaica like we do with other legal drugs and medicines.

The danger of cannabis use or abuse by our society should outweigh the excitement that comes with legalising cannabis. Demand for tobacco seems to go along with demand for cannabis, though the two are hard to separate sometimes.

Cigarettes are a “getaway” to cannabis and cannabis is a getaway to hard drugs and Zambia should do everything possible not to experiment with that trend.

Even countries that have legalised pot are currently reset with huge challenges of how to regulate it, price it or tax it. They should not be allowed to export such challenges to Zambia a challenge that is highly infectious.

Conclusion

Zambia is neither short of nor desperate for economic opportunities that we should be prompted to mask illegality and negative vices as a pretext to counter our own unproductively.

Last year, I remember visiting the office of Dr Mujajati with a copy of the Technical Report on Selenium that was formulated under the captainship of the Director of Clinical Care and Diagnostic Services late Dr. Brigadier-General James Simpungwe.

The report carries beautiful recommendations constructed by medical experts in Zambia on how Selenium can help improve the health care system in Zambia.

He expressed shock that such an important undertaking was gathering dust in the Ministry of Health.

He even promised that he was going to do everything in his power to pursue the matter to the letter so that the recommendations in the report are implemented.

I will start sharing the contents of the report on my Facebook page as soon as I am done with other reports.

More than a year has passed, Dr Mujajati is still sitting on his hands over that report and it is very disappointing to see that what draws his attention more is the legalising of marijuana.

Zambia is an interesting tourist destination indeed. We tend to produce news for the wrong reasons.

John Noel Lungu

Listen and read very carefully

Dear Editor,

I write to appeal to Zambians not to only improve the reading culture but listening well as well.

President Lungu categorically stated that if Zambia has to pull out of the ICC, it has to be done after a wide consultation with the Zambians and the African Union.

He even went a step further to state that he alone has now power to pull Zambia out of ICC because he is bound to preserve our Constitution but will do so if Zambians decide.

I, therefore, wonder whether those mudslinging him on the issue have been listening very well to his statement on the matter before they could mislead some Zambians.

Alas, not all Zambians missed his statement and can, therefore, not be misled by the noise makers.

It is with this observation that I appeal to Zambians to seriously improve not only the reading culture but the listening culture as well so that they get the facts correct and therefore, never mislead people.

It is high time, we stopped the politicking syndrome.

Wisdom Muyunda

CHINGOLA