Throughout this heated debate of legalizing marijuana, I have kept my cool and have thought deeply about this issue. I have asked myself over and over again the reason why such an issue will crop up in the first place. Smoking is smoking, and even those who make money off smoking have cautioned against its usage. Cigarettes which are milder than marijuana are considered harmful to the health of human beings. We all know the harmful effects of smoking and are not new to the many sicknesses that hold hands with smoking so talks of legalizing such a practice, I consider as preposterous.
I consider legalizing marijuana which many call ‘wee’ not because of the elderly who smoke it but because of the youth who are our future bedrock. In the first place, if marijuana is legalized, those who want to live very healthy lives will have no choice other than being second smokers which has a higher risk than first smokers. Yes, they will be forced to inhale the harmful smoke from lungs of heavy smokers coupled with its intended sicknesses. at the end of the day, people will have cancer, lungs diseases etc through no fault of theirs. What will become of this society when citizens’ rights are abused because of this particular practice?
Though the gospel according to marijuana smokers has it that smoking marijuana is good for humans, we all know the lives led by many smokers. Mostly, marijuana smokers live in questionable places where sane people may not be permitted passage at odd times. There is a passage from TAMASCO to T. POLY here in the education ridge in the Tamale in the northern region where these smokers converge, and there are appalling stories told by victims of circumstances. Many rape cases, theft cases and physical abuse cases are told of that place. Occasionally, military men raid the place causing them to flee for a while only to resurface when the weeds grow, hiding in there and causing many wrongs.
There is also the psychological effect associated to the smoking of marijuana. Many people become mad as a result of smoking marijuana. It is a fact that people smoke the weed and go bonkers. They call it ‘being high’. I have personally witnessed one who smoked and came out of his hiding place completely mad and had to be sent to the psychiatric hospital in Accra. That aside, the fact that some go mad smoking it can render many weak hearted individuals mad after smoking it under peer pressure.
The cost of living in recent times is very high and many complain, blaming themselves, the government or attributing their woes to the global crisis. What will happen if people must add the cost of marijuana to their livelihood or if their children add that cost to their already miserable budget. What do you think will happen when people cannot afford their cost of living? Even now, some proud people choose death over their inability to cater for their families. So you can imagine what will happen when this unnecessary evil adds to their cost.
It is a fact that children and teenagers tend to abuse leniency. If we give them a yard, and they might take a mile. So what becomes of these children if they decide to abuse marijuana and end up in the den of madness? Obviously the mortality rate will be high. We will lose many prominent people in the society to this smoking.
We know that marijuana can be useful for many medicinal purposes but we should not open the gates of its usage for abuse. There are many things that need our attention as a nation, legalizing marijuana must not be one.
AMOAFOWAA SEFA CECILIA © 2014.
Mum Cee 