In Zambia we never run out of topics to discuss. At the moment there is a fresh debate (or not so fresh) which is going on. This debate is all about a plant which allegedly has more than 100 names worldwide.
Some of the listed names for this plant are so strange. Wacky Tabacky, Hooch, Peyote, Green Monster, Indian Boy, Art Supplies, Panama Red, Oscar the Grouch and even Green Pants.
In Zambia this plant is commonly called "Icamba". You may know it as Hemp, Cannabis, Marijuana or simply Weed.
A political party named Green Party has insisted that it will legalise the cultivation of marijuana if they are elected to run this country. The President of the Party Mr Peter Sinkamba said if Marijuana was allowed to flourish it would bring $15 billion to the country's treasury.
"It will not only bring in money but we are going to employ about 300,00 youths which will benefit the country."
On top of that, The Green Party has promised that it will abolish the Drug Enforcement Commission. I am not here to talk politics but I have noticed how this has excited certain quarters of our society.
The possession of Marijuana is prohibited in many countries with jail terms ranging from light sentence to severe. Countries like China, Indonesia, Japan, Sweden, Turkey, France, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Philippines and the United Arab Emirates have the strictest cannabis laws.
It is said that the oldest known record of cannabis use came from the Chinese in 2727 B.C. The Greeks and Romans were also familiar with cannabis. In 1545 it spread to the western hemisphere where Spaniards imported it to Chile where it was used as fibre.
Marijuana was criminalised in many countries in the early 20th century. In the United States the first restrictions for sale of marijuana came in 1906. It was also outlawed in South Africa in 1911, in Jamaica in 1913 and in the United Kingdom in the 1920s.
Marijuana has considerable medical benefits ranging from glaucoma to cancer. Despite this, possession of marijuana is prohibited in many countries because it is classified as a Schedule I drug on the basis that it has a high potential for abuse.
Advocates for the legalisation of marijuana say apart from its curing properties, it also promotes creativity, open-mindedness, moral progression and so on.
One person even said that Marijuana triples your potential. If you are a song writer, you will be come more creative in song writing. If you are an author, your writing will be more creative. The later seemed like a joke because if that was the case, one would assume that if you are dumb, then you will become dumber.
Many people do not use marijuana as a medicine but they consume it for its psychoactive and physiological effects which includes heightened mood or euphoria, relaxation and even for an increase in appetite.
On the other hand, despite its medicinal use, marijuana is also associated with impairment of cognitive function when it is used frequently. A cognitive function test indicated that chronic marijuana smokers did worse than non-smokers. Those who started smoking marijuana before the age of 16 did worse than those whom started smoking it later in life.
Chronic smokers repeated errors more often even after they were corrected. They also had more trouble maintaining a set of rules. It is also said that Marijuana use impairs short term memory, alters judgment and decision making. It affects mood, producing severe anxiety, paranoia and psychosis in extreme cases.
For those who smoke it, marijuana smoke is an irritant to the lungs, similar to tobacco smoke. Marijuana smokers have the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers although no increased risk of lung cancer has been described to date in medical research.
That said, possession of cannabis is illegal in most countries as a result of the agreement about Indian Hemp, in the international Opium convention of 1925. That in itself makes it a challenge for the Green Party to export marijuana outside the country because their are currently about five countries where the possession of marijuana is legal or almost legal.
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