In support of legalising marijuana

Dear Editor,

Let’s not fool ourselves; marijuana was made illegal because of economic control of the plant by the USA. America did not have the expertise to mass produce this plant on a scale and quality that other countries did, so in the 1930s they launched an aggressive campaign to make marijuana illegal across the globe through high-level political manoeuvring and “strong arming” other countries. Today, America stands as the leading example for making this plant legal again, now that they have the expertise to effectively profit from it. And for those who do not understand how the US do things, they normally leave it to the states to start the process of legalisation, and then it would be ratified by the Supreme Court.

It has always puzzled me that a poisonous substance like cigarettes can be legal, while we pretend that we are the vanguard of morals by keeping marijuana illegal. We all know that anyone who wishes to smoke the ganja still do regardless. And when I say anyone, I mean from the rich to the poor across all races and cultures. Even many people who are Judges and politicians today would have taken a sample and probably still do. The point here is that if there was any moral decay from this plant, it would have happened already.

And if we use moral grounds to keep this plant illegal, how do we explain its critical role in religion on all continents since before the time of written history? From the Sages and Sadhus in the Himalayas, who smoke marijuana as an unbroken tradition from the time of Lord Shiva to the great kings and queens of Ethiopia and Egypt who set the foundation for this modern world, marijuana was used as a source of enlightenment and healing. In some ways you can’t help but feel that we modern humans are out of our league by having the audacity to make this divine plant illegal.

The most unrecognised irony is that marijuana has always been the base of our most revered and respected messengers of righteousness and liberation across the globe. Mahatma Gandhi, who was enlightened by those same Sages of the Himalayas, liberated not one but two countries on separate continents in his lifetime and inspired Martin Luther King to lead his revolution in the USA.

Through words and sound, we all embrace Bob Marley as the greatest musical messenger of righteousness in our history. We use his music to uplift and inspire; we even use his music in our political campaigns across the world to help spread our messages to the masses. Bob Marley and his fellow messengers of the great conscious reggae music use marijuana as a source of enlightenment. Therefore, it is hypocritical to embrace the goodness of these great people, but banish the source of their greatness.

On an economic scale, marijuana is positioned to be the largest industry in the world rivalled only by information technology. In the first few months of marijuana becoming legal, the State of Colorado collected over US$10 million in tax revenue, a sum that has risen tenfold since. And we can say the same for Washington.

There are untold economic gains for countries like Guyana to not only legalise this plant but to be a major export country to the world. We have the expertise and capacity to harvest this plant on a scale that will dwarf the sugar industry in the future. Holland, Uruguay, North Korea, Chile and Jamaica have all relaxed or made marijuana fully legal and Canada is now paving the way for legalising marijuana there too.

It is time we wake up from 85 years of this outdated American law and make this plant a source of good for our people and country. Are we going to stand aside and watch the world take all the benefits of marijuana for themselves, while we remain under the control of a backward and oppressive law that keeps marijuana illegal?

Sincerely,

Malcolm Watkins,

CSCP