Should Weed Be Legal In Nigeria?

Good day everyone, I hope your day is going as well as mine or even better. Today while going through Twitter, I noticed that one of the trending topics was on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The following story was about a midnight raid yesterday in idado estate, Lagos State which led to the arrest of Nigerian artistes, zinoleesky and mohbad.

This was confirmed by the NDLEA Spokesman, Femi Babafemi, who said Cannabis and Molly were recovered by the operatives.

Some call it weed, others call it pot, a few even call it marijuana, as cannabis has moved from one region to another legally or illegally it's name has evolved. Currently, more and more people have started using the word cannabis to refer to weed.

Cannabis has been legalised in a couple of countries for both medicinal and recreational use, such as Canada, Mexico, Georgia, South Africa, Uruguay and about 18 states in the US. Most countries have penalties for individuals caught in possession of cannabis, penalties as severe as life imprisonment.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime collected the data and determined the countries with the highest percentage of the population uses marijuana.

The country in question here is Nigeria, the use of weed is illegal, yet Nigeria is the major supplier of West African grown cannabis and is currently ranked the third highest consumer of cannabis just behind the US and higher than countries where it is legal to use it.

You can see a picture showing the top four rankings below

Now Canada legalised the recreational use of cannabis in July 2018 and since then they've had an economic boost according to forbes. It has also helped in the creation of jobs in the Canada.

Seeing this statistics I'm sure a lot of people are wondering why is it not yet legal in Nigeria, after all if other countries have legalised it and we're already smoking it as much as they do and even more than they do, what are we waiting for.

It's easy to get carried away and misjudge things when you look at only one side of a story. I did a bit of research and found a statement made by the NDLEA chairman, Bubba Marwa last year.

Marwa said, "The proliferation of illicit drugs often engenders a pattern of crime, chaos and conflict. In the advanced world, it is the driver of the high crime rate and violent killings in the inner cities. In developing or third world countries, it is the escalator of strife, pogroms and civil war, and has played a big role in countries torn to pieces by tribal war, such as it is playing in Syria which has become the hotbed of Captagon, and Afghanistan, which controls the opium trade."

"We have seen narco-terrorism in countries like Colombia and Mexico where drug cartels are a law unto themselves and are as powerful, if not more powerful, than the state. So, there are real cases, not scenarios, of where and how illicit substances played a role in a society’s rapid descent into chaos and teetering on the brink of a failed state."

There is a lot of sense in what he said, of course the NDLEA it self has corrupt officials who demand bribery from individuals caught in possession and of course the legalising the use of cannabis in Nigeria may have it's benefits, but believe it or not, it will do more harm than good to Nigeria if it is legalised at this stage we're in.

The fact that it has worked in those other countries doesn't automatically mean it will work here, these countries are light years ahead of us in infrastructure and technology, we are no where close to having efficient means to monitor the use of cannabis in Nigeria.

Nigeria has more than enough problems with insecurity and if you add the violence and chaos that comes with the use of such narcotics, it will become unbearable. Nigerians are well known for abusing any opportunity given to them, upon the use of cannabis is illegal, Nigeria ranks top three worldwide, what will happen if it becomes legal?

I agree with the fact that some of the methods used to stop the use of cannabis in Nigeria is pointless and most times overbearing, but to conclude that legalising the use of cannabis will solve the problem is actually short-sighted. I'm sure that some of the NDLEA officials make use of cannabis themselves, there should be efficient ways to find these corrupt officials.

This is my opinion on the issue, feel free to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comment section below. Don't forget to leave a like and subscribe for more relevant and informative articles.

Thank you for reading.