Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 24, 2019 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
Marijuana is illegal and considered a narcotic. It is a Psychotropic Drug as classified by the Guyana Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1998 and under the United States of America Psychotropic Substances Act of 1978 and The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. I must compliment CANU and the Police Criminal Investigation Department Narcotics Unit (CID) for coming together and working together and destroying the marijuana in a joint effort because it is an illegal drug. However, the Guyanese public should take note of the following:
The idea of having a joint task force to visit schools and to educate children about the illegal use of marijuana and the dangers of its use and any drug use is fantastic. This is extremely wise and the Government, Commissioner of Police, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), The Guyana Police, whoever came up with the idea for the collaboration between the forces that decrease marijuana production and abuse must be commended. I must take the opportunity to advise that the children be encouraged to become intelligent officers in a way clandestinely or secretly to report to a teacher or teachers identify in the schools or by some other mechanism students who are selling marijuana or other psychotropic drugs, or ecstasy, crack or cocaine to smartly report them. There after these persons can be apprehended and be dealt with in the early stages with a view not to lost them away in prison for 13 years in remand or destroy their lives or careers but a chance to save them also from illegal drug trade and earning money and wealth or cash through the illicit sales of drugs, and learning to earn illegally. Those persons selling drugs in the school should be found so that they can be rehabilitated to teach them responsibility, for them to be smart watchers and lookers in society as to who are selling illegal drugs since it is destroying our country and society but they have to use their intelligence and wisdom wisely.
In many countries like Holland, Canada marijuana is legal and in the USA marijuana is used for Health medications, and medicinal purposes for treatment of various illnesses such as in the treatment of patients receiving anti-cancer medicine (chemotherapy) who have nausea and vomiting – particularly patients who do not respond to other treatments, in the treatment of anorexia (loss of appetite) associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), for use in multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity, and for chronic cancer pain. In addition marijuana is use for the treatment of patients two years and older with seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and Dravet syndrome (forms of epilepsy), (Marijuana: Effects, Medical uses and Legalisation, accessed from https://www.drugs.com/illicit/marijuana.html, 14th March, 2019). In addition, there are marijuana parlours where you can smoke marijuana legally and even purchase a milkshake with marijuana in it, and it seems only a matter of time now before it goes into skin creams or tooth paste since according to latest research it seems ‘good’ for all kinds of benefits.
My viewpoint on that is that marijuana could be seized, processed, and compressed in ways such that it can be sold legally (possibly through an agency within the government) to private licensed agents of, or exported, into countries where it is legal and use for medicinal purposes or entertainment to bring in some income/foreign exchange to our economy. Marijuana in Guyana that is seized, I have been told, is grown naturally and may very well carry a high financial price since it is grown without artificial influence. Hopefully, in time it can be grown and harvested and exported legally if it still remains illegal in Guyana and only used for exportation.
The same goes for cocaine in which hundreds of millions or billions of dollars are burnt up. Cocaine seized in Guyana can be sold to pharmaceuticals around the world instead of burning and destroying them. “The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. considers cocaine to be a valuable anaesthetic and vasoconstricting agent when used as part of the treatment of a patient by a physician. No other single drug combines the anaesthetic and vasoconstricting properties of cocaine”. (Does Cocaine have any legitimate Medical use?” accessed from: https://www.verywellmind.com/does-cocaine-have-any-legit-medical-uses-1124135, 14th March, 2019).
The Guyana Government is also forbidding the use of “hemp” which is a family of the marijuana plant that is grown naturally. It is known to be a light narcotic of which they are two different stages. Countries such as, Australia and New Zealand allow research crops and it is grown in Eastern European countries such as Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Russia. Hemp use is quite extensive and is found in products such as recipes (use in salad oils, cake batter, seeds eaten as nuts), pet food and bedding (dietary supplements for pets, cat litter), body oil and moisturizing lotions, oil based products (candles, lanterns and paint), plastic products (packaging products and CD and jewel cases), construction materials e.g. cement and biodiesel fuels, and clothing (jeans and high fashion apparel). Paper is sometimes made using hemp. It is more economical to use hemp to make paper. It saves the trees and protects the wildlife and forests. The sugar and rice industries are going “awry” so why can’t we in the public use the lands to grow and export hemp, and for local and manufacturing of various products that are produced by hemp? Since we are importing hemp products, why can’t we use hemp which is grown naturally and which can create a new industry for Guyana and the Caribbean instead of cutting down trees?
My view is to get financial rewards/benefits for things that are “bad” the very way that illegal weapons are confiscated and put to good use by law enforcement departments. Why is it that we cannot use the confiscated cocaine or marijuana to generate foreign exchange, if it is possible? I think that we should move to a new industry of Hemp cultivation – which is a big industry in the USA to help our economy. These are all views as to what to do with things that are burnt and destroy – for this we would need some radicalist, futuristic leaders.
Sincerely,
Mr. Roshan Khan Snr.
National Chairman: Universal Peace Federation (Guyana)
Chairman: Electric Mosque Teaching of Islam
National Chairman: Guyana Islamic Forum
Chairman: Ethnic Relations Commission.
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