Legalise marijuana for medicinal, financial benefits

 MARIJUANA is not an issue anymore in the Highlands. 

Just like any other cash crop, it is planted in gardens, pruned and cared for very well. 

Though its market is not readily available, buyers from  the coast make occasional visits to buy in bulk. 

Why  does  the police have to make a big issue and run big headlines when they catch a marijuana farmer? 

Out of the tens of thousands of farmers, one is caught every six months and it is publicised in the media and blown out of proportion, scaremongering and spreading fear. 

Marijuana is no longer a big deal and should not be in PNG as a lot of people use it. 

If  legalised, it  will  lose its novelty and no one will give too much care for it. 

We  could even farm it and sell it overseas for medicinal use, then use the money to treat addicts  by  pouring it into PNG’s health system. 

This  trade  has  become  a  norm  in  the Highlands  and nobody talks about it. 

It is time that an alternative, plus material support, is  provided  to  marijuana  farmers. 

Otherwise, strip off marijuana laws. 

Joe 

Goroka