Dear Editor,

At least two things have been revealed as a result of the beating to death in prison of that young man who was charged with possession of ganja. One is how we always seem to use the wrong approach to problem-solving, and the other is how we sometimes use unfortunate occurences like these to further our selfish aims.

It was interesting that senior government leaders attempted to blame what happened to that young man in jail on him being charged with ganja possession, and not the fact that the police officers on duty failed in their duty to ensure the man’s safety while in State custody.

I saw the justice minister promising that the Government will do all it can to reduce the need for those convicted of ganja possession to be sent to jail. How is it that we are yet to hear the Government promising to do all it can to make those responsible for inmates not allow others to suffer the same fate as that young man?

The other thing of interest is the reaction of the pro-ganja lobby. It is using the beating of that young man to maximum effect — calling for laws concerning ganja possession to be relaxed. I even heard a news report, attributed to this lobby, claiming that if the ganja laws as they are were not there, that young man would not have died.

Our leaders still don’t understand the real issue. It is not that the man was arrested for having ganja that caused him to be beaten to death. It’s the fact that he was in prison. If he was sent there for another offence, unrelated to ganja, it is likely that he would still have been beaten to death.

Why is it that the pro-ganja lobby is in such a hurry to get us all high on this drug? Why has this lobby chosen to ignore the many other prisoners who are in prison not because of anything to do with ganja and who have been abused and even killed while in prison?

The Government has already said that it is going to change these ganja laws. Why can’t these pro-ganja lobbies wait until then?

Wouldn’t it have been better if the pro-ganja lobby and our government leaders had put forward measures that would have eliminated this long-standing prisoner abuse problem that we have?

Perhaps, more than anything else, this unfortunate event has shown how we go about solving problems — using very flawed approaches. It has also shown us, very clearly, why it is that we cannot seem to solve our problems. Why must we always medicate the horse from the wrong end?

Michael A Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com