THE campaign trail in the run-up to the 2016 general elections is starting to gain momentum and political parties are already revealing to the nation, some of their plans for the people once voted into Government.
It was in this regard that opposition Green Party of Zambia (GPZ) president Peter Sinkamba recently said that if voted into office, his Government would legalise the cultivation and sale of marijuana as the drug contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any country.
The statement by Mr Sinkamba obviously came from the general view that Zambia has depended on mining for far too long, and needs other sectors to contribute actively to the national GDP.
Marijuana ishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug) – cite_note-4 also referred to as Cannabis and in the modern era, it is grown for use mainly as a psychoactive drug and also as medicine.
People consume Cannabis for its psychoactive and physiological effects, which can include heightened mood or euphoria, relaxation and an increase in appetite.
Unwanted side-effects of the drug can sometimes include a decrease in short-term memory, impaired motor skills, reddening of the eyes and feelings of paranoia or anxiety.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug) – cite_note-12
The United Nations (UN) deems Cannabis as the most-used illicit drug in the world and in 2004; the organisation estimated that global consumption of the drug indicated that approximately162 million people used it annually, while roughly 22.5 million of people used the same daily.
In Zambia however, Chapter 96 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, prohibits the use of Marijuana because of its negative impact on the consumer.
The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has entertained no sacred cows and the enforcement of the policy on drugs is evidenced by the recent clean up of the notorious Chibolya township in Lusaka, where scores were nabbed for trading in the drug.
Residents in and around Chibolya who were consuming the drug often found themselves in predicaments of violence and other forms of lawlessness to the extent that police officers could not even enter the area and arrest the culprits.
After the clean up, the people have now reformed and some of them personally come out to thank Government for the action by DEC in Chibolya.
But Mr Sinkamba contends that some commercial farmers in Zambia are cultivating the herb and making a lot of profit from exporting it though they have encountered massive opposition.
He says if the GPZ were to form Government, it would repeal the anti-narcotic laws in the country that promote the prohibition of drugs like marijuana.
In short, Mr Sinkamba’s Government will be pro-lawlessness and will encourage drug abuse ahead of other reasonable contributors to the economy such as mining and manufacturing.
This platform feels there are other means of empowering young people other that making them sale drugs because at present, the country is having serious problems of youths being associated with alcohol abuse.
That is why the Government is striving to find other activities to engaging them in other things that they can do to contribute to the country’s GDP.
These include the disbursement of the Youth Development Fund and the construction of recreation and youth resource centers.
The law of narcotic substances is very clear and drug abuse must be condemned because of the serious consequences associated with the practice.
Government must be commended for it is working hard to curb illicit drug abuse and trafficking, that is why marijuana and other psychotropic substances are illegal in Zambia.
Medical practitioners are very innovative nowadays and surely one can not only settle for marijuana as the only cure for a certain ailment.
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