Latest update April 11th, 2025 9:20 AM
Legalize hemp and marijuana?
Dear Editor,
We talk about creating jobs and having Guyanese be self sufficient yet law enforcement is going around arresting ganja growers with an automatic three years for a non-violent crime, an 18-year-old was also arrested and a three-year sentence imposed.
If this man wasn’t cultivating cannabis he could have possibly been robbing, stealing, perhaps even killing like many criminals.
In an industry that generates over 50,000 jobs globally we need to wake up, get out of our 1920s mindset, stop depending on the prospects of oil to be the savior of an already resource rich country and look to implement regulation or perhaps even the legalization of hemp and its sister product, marijuana.
There are dozens of by-products including clothing, paper, beauty products, hemp oil and seeds which are rich in vitamins A and B and omega fatty acids and other versatile textiles such as rope and building materials, to be had from hemp.
We are literally sleeping on a gold mine of “green” materials, which goes in hand with our “going green” initiative.
Are we going to wait again for foreign interest and investment within this industry before we consider making a move? We keep wondering why Guyana’s crime rate is up when people are out here hungry, starving, and looking for a way to make ends meet.
Many are without resources, connections or a proper education and we keep arresting them for petty crimes instead of addressing real issues such as lack of adequate, skills, resources or education. Cannabis and hemp alike have proven medicinal benefits and healing properties when compared to alcohol which in many cases is the cause of numerous deaths, murders and accidents.
You cannot incarcerate the masses, and not provide a plan to create jobs then wonder why the country is in shambles.
Legalizing the naturally grown plant won’t have any more adverse affects than the over consumption of an 80 proof bottle of rum would have within Guyana.
Stephanie
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