Ganja talk good for TT

THE EDITOR: A key component of a functioning democracy is the freedom to air your views, and in this regard, I want to salute the many professional and amateur commentators, both past and present who continue to enrich our culture with their well-researched and reasoned opinions on a wide variety of matters affecting the fortunes of TT.

A great example of the above is the current national debate on the best way forward regarding marijuana. From my observation point, it would seem that the nation is fairly evenly divided between leaving the laws as they are and decriminalising the possession of small amounts of the weed.

Before I declare my hand on the issue I would like to recommend everyone reading this to get hold of an 18th century book called On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, in which he forcibly argues that, “For a crime to be committed, there must be a victim.” In the case of someone smoking a marijuana joint, who exactly is the victim?

In the past 48 years of observing people smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and smoking legal cigarettes I am convinced that all three of them cause damage in proportion to their level of usage, but I am still not sure why marijuana was ever made illegal. I am not advocating its use here but simply evaluating its potential to do harm compared to other legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.

Now, here are the main reasons why marijuana should be decriminalised, and they have been enunciated by other writers way more eloquent than me. In an age where the worst forces of evil seem to be outstripping those of the police, prosecution, judiciary and prison services, why would you want these valuable state resources distracted from dealing with serious crime, to deal with marijuana smokers.

It would appear to be the better thing to do, since you can also collect tax revenue from marijuana, as many forward-thinking jurisdictions are now doing.

Gregory Wight, Maraval

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"Ganja talk good for TT"

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