Jamaican Baffled As He Glorifies Cannabis

The Point

Gambia - Ras Lynrest, a Jamaican and musician by vocation, has told a magistrates’ court that he could not understand, no matter how hard he try, how and why mankind could come up with such stringent laws against cannabis sativa which, he argued, possesses both nutritional and medicinal values .Ras enlightened the court that cannabis is sent from God to man and should be treated as such.

He added that cannabis sativa has a high nutritional value and could be overwhelmingly useful in curing many ailments.

According to him, it was very strange to learn that possession of cannabis is a punishable offence.

“How can human beings formulate such laws and impose them on fellow human beings,” Ras wondered aloud.

But Magistrate Edrisa Mbai, presiding, informed Ras that possession of cannabis is a punishable offence in The Gambia and enforceable under the Drug Control Act.

He then sentenced him to a fine of D250,000 ,in default to serve 10 years in prisons for being found in possession of cannabis sativa.

It would be recalled that Ras Lynrest was arrested sometime this year at the Banjul International Airport in possession of 29kg and 880g of cannabis .He had throughout his trial maintained his ‘innocence’ of the offence of trafficking cannabis.

By Abdoulie Nyockeh