Rev Teelucksingh: Ganja decriminalisation opens floodgates to substance abuse

Former independent senator Rev Daniel Teelucksingh says he is afraid that marijuana decriminalisation will open the floodgates to substance abuse in TT.

He said government has been bullied by other Caricom nations and activists to decriminalise the herb and is following the trend set by North American countries.

In his Christmas morning sermon at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church in San Fernando, Teelucksingh said TT has now joined the "league of cannabis nations," and fears activists will continue their campaign “and not give up until we move from decriminalisation to full legislation of the drug.”

The theme of the sermon was Gifts Under the Christmas Tree. He said there was one quite noticeable gift under each tree in TT, carelessly and clumsily put together.

“It looked like somebody was either sleepy, or drunk or crazy when wrapping that gift to put under the Christmas tree. Open it and you will find a nice little box of 30 grams of marijuana from the government of TT.

“And with that, a letter of comfort that you can plant in your rose garden four marijuana plants. Next year you can decorate one of these plants with Christmas lights and the Coat of Arms of TT to replace the Bethlehem star.”

He warned,“There is no doubt that marijuana has been the gateway to harsher and more dangerous narcotics, and in TT the use of cocaine and other prohibited substances have been on the rise both in its availability and usage.”

He said research has shown that marijuana smoking can be injurious to an unborn baby and the smoke can affect the minds of young people.

“The weed has negatively affected the sanity of several teenagers and young adults although we don’t have the numbers.”

He called on the Ministry of Education to start a nationwide programme to educate on the dangers of the drug. He wants parents, guardians and teachers to protect their children in the same way Mary and Joseph were told to protect the baby Jesus from Herod.

Saying he had no problem with medicinal marijuana to help the sick, Teelucksingh said government should have comprehensively discussed this with the medical profession before the legislation was piloted and passed,

He scoffed at the decision by government to pardon prisoners charged and / or convicted for small amounts of marijuana and languishing in jail because they could not afford bail.

“What pardon?” he asked.

He said this was more like a “desperate apology” from government as those people have already been punished by the inordinate delay in the justice system in TT.