Ogun Based Journalist, Lahbash Advocates For Legalisation Of Marijuana, Stated Reasons

The founder and Publisher of The Eaglesforesight an online news platform, Mr Bashiru Hammed Adewale popularly known as Prince Lahbash has called the attention of the federal government for the legalization of medical uses of marijuana.

Major persons, especially Omoyele Sowore and some few others had cried out loud in agitating for the legalization of marijuana, known as weed, stating the financial and medical impacts of the weeds in our society.

Lahbash said; “It is essentially a call for what we call decriminalization. If a young man tries to experiment with a wrap of marijuana for instance & because of that we put him in jail”

“I was once detained in prison as a political prisoner of conscience & I interacted with few of these young and old people at Ibara Correctional Center in Abeokuta, some of them just for being caught with a wrap of Marijuana, they were put in jail. They came out of jail more hardened, more hardened criminals than when they went in.

Whereas, if they have been treated as they should be treated & if in some cases they need attentions, they should be given attention”, he added.

Bashiru Hammed Adewale Olamilekan has called for decriminalization of weed. “They (offenders) should be looked after, given a clean needle like it’s been done in some parts of Africa already. Harm reduction & safe places where they can listen to people, they can get attention, they can get counsel. This is the sort of thing we are talking about.” Lahbash insisted.

Omoyele Sowore: Publisher of SaharaReporters and Chairman, a two times Presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC). Going further, the Presidential candidate for AAC in the forthcoming general election in 2023, Omoyele Sowore was reported to have publicly said that he would make Nigeria the most major exporter of marijuana, popularly called weed if elected as the next president of the Federal republic of Nigeria.

He said, “We have to start taking care of our weed, (igbo) such that we can also contribute to the GDP of the world. Some of the best weed in the world are grown in Ekiti state. I’m very serious and people are making billions out of that particular plant that is very potent in Nigeria. We should be focusing on it.”

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He also revealed that it would not be business as usual for the NDLEA, as it would become legal to export marijuana. In his words; “Our NDLEA should get the memo in advance that Nigeria will be exporting weed to cure cancer in other parts of the world instead of chasing after people who are growing weed. Whereas, they’re not chasing after our politicians who are smoking cocaine in their houses,” he said.

“Middle-class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot in the western countries.… We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing codedly. It’s important for [the legalization of marijuana in Nigeria] to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.” – Lahbash said

“I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be. We also infact really need a reexamination of our entire policy on imprisonment.”

“Maybe we should legalize it for financial and medical purposes. We’re certainly ought  to be moving that way as far as marijuana is concerned. I respect the will of the people anyway,” Lahbash.

“Marijuana decriminalization is an issue that will undoubtedly become more prevalent over time… The Nigeria prisons, especially at Ibara Correctional Center that I was once detained, had already has the highest drugs (marijuana in particular) dealers and smokers incarceration rate in the country. We lock up the majority of inmates for nonviolent drug-related crimes in this country. Instead of attacking the consumers, the government should give them alternatives to poverty and street life, to steer them away from drug abuse in the first place. It simply doesn’t make sense to waste billions of naira putting hundreds of thousands of Nigerians in prison for non-violent offences of the law.”

“I hereby support the action and ideologies taken by the activist, Omoyele Sowore.

It’s wrong to have so many people behind bars for the use of marijuana.… There is a growing recognition in both parties that a system that locks up hundreds of nonviolent offenders is counterproductive,” –Lahbash concluded.