Dear Editor,

This is a response to Patrick Rowe’s letter of January 7, “Ganja is harmful”. He contends that ganja is illegal, so the police must stop those who peddle and smoke it, especially in full view of the public – at least for now, until and if it is made legal.

I would like to ask the relevance of locking up a ganja smoker, who is a non-violent offender, with criminals in a penal system as horrible and horrendous as ours. You only increase his exposure to more hardened criminals and instil a dislike for the system. Why should we still endorse such antiquated tactics and philosophy? It is evident that the war on drugs, which started in the 80s with people like the late actor and president Ronald Reagan, has been a horrendous failure. Why not adopt sensible First-World policies like those in parts of Canada, Amsterdam or California?

Mr Rowe goes on to argue that “this open disregard for the law helps to confuse our children. It tells them that an illegal act can be flaunted and accepted publicly”. I wonder if it does not confuse him to see mankind ridiculously making illegal a plant God made in its natural form while not banning tobacco and alcohol which are dangerous. “It may look simple but it will go a far way in changing disrespectful attitudes towards law and order,” Mr Rowe says. Yet paradoxically, to follow this moronic and antiquated law and make nature illegal seems to violate the laws of nature, which we know is greater than that of man.

He maintains that ganja is a harmful, behaviour-changing substance. However, many people know this behaviour-changing myth has been around a long time. Initially, it was said that “weed” made men mad and violent, raving lunatics; now conventional wisdom tends to try and tell you that it makes weed smokers slow and lazy and stupid. The ganja critics’ stance and behaviour keeps changing. Also, where is Mr Rowe’s undoubted proof of ganja’s evils? Is he ignoring the works of intellectual giants like the late Professor Barry Chevannes and religious authorities like Reverend Dr Webster Edwards? Mr Rowe, your argument stands on shaky ground.

Yannick Nesta Pessoa

cyber_yan@yahoo.com