SPEC and the CCN Oppose the Legalization of the Dagga

Aletta Shikololo

WINDHOEK – The Swapo Council of Elders (SPEC), from the same collection of hymns as the Namibian Council of Churches (NCC), said Namibia should not legalize the dagga.

The neighboring South Africa legalized the right of adults to cultivate and smoke grass following a ruling of the Constitutional Court, while Canada was the first major western country to legalize the use national dagga. Several US states allow the use of the dagga for "recreational" purposes. adults.

A little-known local organization called Ganja Users in Namibia (ballistics acronym) and Rastafari United Front is planning a peaceful march to Parliament, where they will file a petition challenging Namibia's ban on cannabis.

At the celebration of Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley, GUN President Brian Jaftha told New Era that cannabis prohibition is "irrational and unfair".

"Prohibition creates insecurities and vulnerability in the lives of cannabis users. The sanctions, namely the arrest, prosecution and conviction of a victimless crime, are cruel, inhuman and degrading, and such conviction results in additional discrimination against users in everyday life, by example to find a job and recognize sports performance, "he complained Jaftha.

"Cannabis use can objectively be considered a harm done to the public or the state because it is now documented as an essential treatment and treatment for many cancers and tumors, and is also used successfully in the treatment of asthma, autoimmune diseases such as such as arthritis and rheumatism, insomnia, inflammation, bipolar syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and hypertension arterial, "added Jaftha. It was referring to some countries where medical use of the dagga is allowed.

The ban on its users is a stigma in the eyes of society at large as criminals, he added.
Jaftha denied the claims of most pharmaceutical companies contradicting his beliefs about the use of "ganja".
"Cannabis has proven and well-documented beneficial medical effects, even when they are smoked. These include relief of nausea and vomiting, appetite stimulation in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, glaucoma of the eye, as well as in the treatment of the effectiveness chronic gastrointestinal as an analgesic, "says Jaftha.

The legalization of the herb, also known as marijuana, is one of the most controversial issues under discussion in Africa.
In South Africa, cannabis was recently legalized after a court found no convincing medical evidence that the dagga in small quantities was harmful to users, particularly in relation to the harm caused by alcohol consumption. .
The court also held that there was no evidence that marijuana caused violent or aggressive behavior, nor that its use resulted in the use of more powerful or more dangerous drugs.

Lukas Beukes, Acting Secretary General of the SCC, said, "As a nation, we can not compare ourselves to other nations that have legalized cannabis use."
"We are concerned about the effects of these drugs on our people and we have not yet received any official statement of the benefits of cannabis to people."

SPEC Secretary Mukwaita Shanyengana strongly disagrees with the legalization of cannabis, saying: "Every country has its own rules based on what is good or bad for its people."

The President of the People's Democratic Movement (DPM), McHenry Venaani, also commented on this topic that supporters of the use of ganja were free to express their position on it.
"Namibia is a democratic country and if they want to demonstrate, they have to go, that's their right," said the opposition leader in parliament.

Jaftha concluded that the law that prohibits cannabis on false claims of harm or on the need to protect the population from abuse resulting from drug abuse is not only a violation of citizens' right to freedom of thought, belief , opinion, conscience and religion. It is also an attempt by the state to close the door of direct spiritual contact that humans can have with the creator, which is facilitated by the consumption of dagga and placing the law above the law. Spirit of which she is born.

He quickly pointed out that the dagga is not a drug and therefore can not be abused. It's not addictive and it's not hallucinogenic, he added.

Jaftha is asking Namibians to join what he called "the revolutionary march of cannabis", which will take place on April 19 from the B1 City Mall to the Ausspanplatz Circle at 08:00.

New Era Reporter
2019-02-14 09:56:33 2 hours ago