Photo credit: Big Think.

'Igbo', as the popular derivative from the cannabis plant is commonly called here, is a banned substance, of which planting, production, possession and consumption is heavily punishable by laws ranging from years of internment to the capital penalty. 

But is marijuana consumption really that destructive? Do the cons outweigh it's pros? Should consumption of marijuana really be a crime? Should it continue to be considered a vice?

I would encourage the readers to enlighten themselves on these questions. Google is your friend!

Assuming you've done that, you may have discovered surprisingly that the use of marijuana both as a recreational drug or medicinal is quite beneficial, as opposed to contrary beliefs. Be warn though, abuse of it, pretty much just as abuse of any other useful substance can cause real and lasting damaging harm.

If marijuana is indeed beneficial as posited, one then wonders why Western nations (particularly the United States of America) started this insane and increasingly lost war against legalisation of marijuana. A quick delve into the realms of lobbying, litigations, legislation and conspiracy theories provide some insight:

1. People fear that which they do not understand. The merits and demerits of usage of marijuana were relatively unresearched and little known then, so many conservatives felt it's better safe than sorry.

2. It was, and is still, a drug more commonly used by the poor. So rich uptight folks probably had a prejudiced view of its usage. Since most of the petty and violent crimes were committed by poor people and in poor communities, there might have been a sincere conflation between the use of marijuana and criminal tendencies.

3.The Tobacco companies angle. It has been investigated that the cigarette industry were concerned about having a rival drug to tobacco. Since marijuana seemed to provide a better hit than tobacco smoking, had more ways of consumption than tobacco, and could be more easily sourced, planted and produced than tobacco which has to be expertly cultivated (almost anyone can plant cannabis even in a kitchen jar), having a cheap yet better alternative appeared to threaten their financial gains and hence propaganda against marijuana consumption was aggressively sponsored by the "Tobacco Group". They also attempted to ban alcohol too for similar reasons (read about The Prohibition Era in the United State of America).

Photo credit: MedicaNewsToday.

4. There is also the issue of Inertia. Man has a reluctance to start or stop after having started, so likely the momentum gained just continued to push the false narratives just to save face. The USA created an agency called the DEA which specializes mostly on marijuana confiscation. Their politicians had to save face, really. So they just doubled down despite surmounting evidence based on research that pointed on the contrary to their biased opinions.

5. Pharmaceutical companies are equally threatened by consumption of marijuana as it reduces dependency on synthetic drugs and aphrodisiacs. They are currently the major and most vocal sponsors of the anti-marijuana battles in recent climes.

Other less sinister reasons may abide, such as the fear of abuse, overdose or dependency issues. No one wants to add "Marijuana Magnanimous" groups to "Alcohol Anonymous", right?

Well, the smoke has lifted, the haze has cleared and a high has hit. Research has shown the benefits of taking marijuana and has dispelled a lot of misconceptions.

Many countries, such as Belgium, Canada, Jamaica etc. have already recognized the folly in banning marijuana production and usage and are already introducing legislation to legalize and sensitized the market, some including outright recognition and subsidies on planting and cultivation. A quick online search would yield a comprehensive list of countries which have totally or partly allowed the use of marijuana.

But that brings us back home and why we seriously need to start decriminalizing and strongly advocating for responsible use of marijuana. Soil texture in lots of areas in Nigeria are very suitable for the cultivation of the cannabis plant.

If Nigeria is really serious about diversification of the economy and a new foray into agriculture, we should move to quickly legalize the planting of cannabis, promoting propaganda (both factual and otherwise) to its merits thereof as a drug (recreational and medical). But no, we'd keep our campaign of demonizing, we would make it the butt of jokes at comedy shows, we would spend huge amount on advertising it's negative effects, we would keep filling our prisons instead of our farms with cannabis farmers, we would keep wasting resources instead of making revenues on rabbit-hole clampdowns, and wait until the Western nations have legalised the whole darn thing and create monopolies and control the market, then we'd complain about life not being fair and about bad leaders, and then we would take imported marijuana to soothe our collective depression. 

If Nigeria is to make headways in a competitive global world, we need to stop being reactionary and become revolutionary, in the case of marijuana and in general.

- Kolabomi Adeko