The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

It’s recorded both medically and socially that marijuana is a hallucinogenic, psychosis, and addictive substance. One need only go on the internet visit Webmd.com.type in marijuana and its effect.

What you find will not only make you think twice about using it but also warn others to stay away from it.

Why is there not more awareness placed in the public domain on the adverse effects of its use?

For the greater part the noise is about the money. And those that oppose its use are labeled old fashioned and out of tune with the buzz of today.

According to the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana the economic potential of a cannabis industry in The Bahamas is robust. I might have missed it but at no time did I hear mention of the downside of its use.

It is understood that the commission consists of learned persons with diverse backgrounds. It is incumbent upon them, for the stability of the nation to combine head with heart and to base their presentation on both economic and social findings.

Lay all the cards on the table. What good is wealth if you can’t enjoy it?

Well anyhow if it is made legal prayerfully like with cigarettes serious warnings will be made available to the public.

It has been highlighted by QC Wayne Munroe that medicinal marijuana has always been available in The Bahamas.

So why the hullabaloo all of a sudden?

While I wouldn’t put any money down against it I believe that former health Minister Dr Duane Sands being a heart specialist knows more about the affect of marijuana than he is revealing and that is the reasons for his cautious approach.

The former Prime Minister’s mantra was.”I would rather lose an election than lose a country. “

History will tell if he predicted his downfall.

The onus is now on you, Prime Minister Davis What are you going to do?

Listening to the talk shows, parents, other family members and persons with past Ganja experiences are pleading with the government not to proceed with the recreational use of marijuana.

Most of us old enough to have experienced the horrors of the eighties are still living the nightmares. Almost everyone was affected by the use of crack cocaine.

I lost four of my best friends during that time, and it’s only by the grace of God I escaped.

It came in so subtly hardly anyone paid much attention and at first there was a lot of money flowing through the country. Which caused some in authority to turn a blind eye, and before you knew it The Bahamas was known as a “nation for sale”.

A prominent minister of the cloth will always be remembered for his famous quote. “Principle doesn’t put bread on the table.”

Gangs, gang-wars, and violent crime are now a part of our everyday living.

Turf and drug wars are prevalent throughout the country.

Young men caught up in the change of time are killing each other, not knowing why. Fighting a war, they didn’t start. Killing, just killing, not knowing why.

Forty years later we are now contemplating opening another Pandora’s box. Only this time it is with the blessings of the powers that be. How quickly we forget.

But then again what the heck it’s mostly only going to affect the poor people in Bain Town, East Street, Pinewood Gardens, Fox Hill, Yellow Elder, and Kemp Road.

Who cares. What the heck.

There is already a social meltdown in these communities”.

“Can you imagine yesterday in fear of being arrested I had to swallow my roach when I saw a policeman coming. Now today I could light up my bomber while drinking my Guinness right in his face and I even don’t have to hide my stash.

God save our Bahamaland.

ANTHONY PRATT

Nassau,

October 16, 2021.