Unbanning bhang

When marijuana is discussed within legal circles, it is usually in the context of an individual who is on trial for possession or trafficking. The individual is often arrested or goes into hiding after the police, through a heads-up, nab a vehicle transporting rolls of the ground plant.

That is about to change should a petition on whether or not marijuana should be legalised for medicinal purposes — and, if so, who should be allowed to grow it — sail through Kenya’s legislative process.

PERCEIVED BY MANY AS HARMLESS

The petition seeks to rewrite the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act, which lists cannabis as a banned substance. According to the law, any person found with any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance is guilty of an offence.

Where the person satisfies the court that the drug was intended for personal consumption, the convict is handed ten years in jail, while those trafficking are imprisoned for 20 years.
Although marijuana — referred to by many street names, such as bhang, pot, weed, herb, or joint — is one of the most abused drugs in the world, there is an ever-growing gap between the latest science around, and the myths surrounding, it.

Marijuana has in more recent years been the centre of controversy because of its use as a medicinal agent, and the push to legalise it has gained traction throughout the world. Increasingly, because of its use as a medicine for various chronic ailments, bhang is perceived by many as harmless.

That is why, on the afternoon of February 15 this year, the Senate veered from its heavy schedule of discussing drought and a biting doctors’ strike to consider the rather peculiar petition by a Kenyan researcher.

Gwada Ogot wants the government to decriminalise cannabis, and then go ahead and legalise it for medical use. Citing the legalisation movement in America and other countries in Europe and Asia, Ogot states in his petition that “the crime and controversy around cannabis sativa derive from its prohibition, and not the plant itself or its users”.

“Cannabis sativa has multiple documented medicinal and industrial uses,” argues Ogot, “and decriminalising the plant would result in great social and economic benefits for the country.” He adds that the plant is “God’s gift to mankind”.

As a result, the petitioner recommends that people serving jail sentences for possession, cultivation, transportation, sale or use of the plant should be released from prison, and that the plant be removed from the country’s list of dangerous and illicit drugs.

In response, the Senate ordered the country’s Committee on Health to review the petition within 60 days.

Excitement over the move went through the roof, and in the heated debate that followed, senator and then presidential candidate Kenneth Okong’o Mong’are openly admitted to having been a regular smoker as a youth.

Although many senators were in disagreement with Mong’are, he went on to call for the government to regulate “free trading and consumption of the substance”.

“Strict regulations do not help. It [marijuana] is abused because of laws criminalising it. The problem with Kenyans is living in denial,” Mong’are said.

Despite making bhang illegal and a little hard to get a hold of, Kenya is considered one of the more tolerant African countries with a long tradition of cannabis use. In fact, it is estimated that as much as 1,500 hectares of land in the country are used to grow the plant in the lower farmlands, concealed among traditional crops; or up in high-altitude areas regarded as national wildlife reserves.

A 2007 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, titled Cannabis in Africa, found that cheeky Kenyan farmers engage in large-scale cultivation of the plant, primarily in the Lake Victoria basin, in the central highlands around Mt Kenya, and along the coastline.

Despite two successful, highly publicised targeted raids of 14 farms at the foot of Mt Kenya that destroyed 461 tonnes of cannabis in 2001 and 2002, the report continues, police observed an increase in the production and trafficking of the crop during 2004.

Also, a 2015 study by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) found that bhang is the most widely used narcotic drug in the country, with about one per cent of the population aged 15-65 years being regular users.

Fast-foward to 2017, and less than 48 hours after Ogot presented his case before the Senate, more than 1,400 Kenyans had signed a petition seeking the legalisation of bhang. If the petition is adopted, it will no longer be illegal to plant or sell the marijuana.

Ogot argues that the plant has multiple documented benefits, and that its medicinal and industrial uses, upon its legalisation, will be of “great social and economic gains” to the country. He advocates for the establishment of a regulatory body (Cannabis Sativa Board of Kenya) to oversee planting, trading, and consumption of the plant.

“Research has indicated that bhang can be used for medicinal purposes. It is disease-resistant and can be replanted several times a year without using pesticides,” he argues.

To back his petition, Ogot, who admits to smoking bhang during his teenage years, says most countries in Europe and Asia, as well as some states in the US, have already legalised the use of marijuana.

WHERE BHANG IS ALREADY LEGAL

In some countries — including Norway, the Netherlands, and Portugal — it is legal to consume small amounts of marijuana, while in others police do not arrest people for possession. Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalise the use of all drugs in 2001. In Australia, Puerto Rico, Poland, Czech Republic, Canada, Croatia and Macedonia, it is legal for medicinal purposes in some form, and in Turkey cultivation for the same purpose is allowed. In Uruguay, Spain, Slovenia, Netherlands, Jamaica, Columbia, Chile and some parts of the United States of America, it is legal or decriminalised in some form.

In the Kenyan context, marijuana is mostly regarded as being of recreational use, but this is probably true for not more than five per cent of users. For the rest, it has medicinal purposes.

Because of its use as a medicine for various chronic ailments, marijuana is sometimes perceived as harmless. Pain is the main reason people get a prescription, and so the drug is used to manage the effects of headaches, cancer, glaucoma, some forms of epilepsy, or nerve pain.

However, marijuana use can impact one’s perception and judgment. Persistent and heavy use can also contribute, over time, to various social problems.

MARIJUANA AND THE BRAIN

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active chemical in cannabis responsible for a euphoric high. It makes one giddy, light-headed and sometimes relaxed. No matter the method of consumption, THC gets into your bloodstream and then into your brain, where it stimulates different receptors and nerves, resulting in that momentary high. But not all marijuana gets you “stoned”. This is because the herb also contains a chemical known as cannabidiol (CBD). Marijuana plants that have low THC and high CBD work really well as medicines.

And so, the big question; since the drug is slowly but surely finding favour in legislative bodies across the world, should Kenya decriminalise it?

Prof Lukoye Atwoli, Dean of the School of Medicine at Moi University, says that it is ridiculous to punish a “victimless crime”.

“The high risk of mental problems brought about by using bhang cannot be used as a legal argument to criminalise the substance,” he says, adding that decriminalising the drug will favour research to allow people discover how to use it.

“Marijuana has been shrouded in a lot of historical misconceptions and misunderstandings which are not scientifically proven,” explains Dr Atwoli, who says that if anything, coffee and tea are equally psychoactive substances.

But not everyone buys into the idea of legalising bhang. Among these is West Pokot’s John Lonyangapuo, who was among senators opposed to Ogot’s petition arguing.

“How can a Kenyan think of legalising bhang?,” he posed. “Think of the damage it has caused! Though it may generate money, it leads to damage in the home and causes a lot of social disorder. In fact, the committee should propose more penalties!”

Other senators were opposed to the idea of allowing police to grow the plant as suggested by Ogot. Nyandarua senator Muruiki Karue said law enforcers can neither be trusted to cultivate nor transport the crop.

“Our system has proven that we cannot trust it to regulate bhang,” said Mr Karue.
Prof Wilfred Lesan said there was a need to investigate how the by-products from the plant can be harnessed for productive use.

“Whether we decriminalise it or not, we are more concerned with products from the plant once processed,” he argued.

The Senate Health Committee Chairman Wilfred Machage said the committee will investigate the matter.

“It is not the work of the Senate to criminalise your thinking,” he said.

DESPITE LEGALISATION PUSH, DRUG LINKED TO HYPERTENSION

People who smoke marijuana have a three times greater risk of dying from hypertension, or high blood pressure, than those who have never used the drug, scientists have said.
A survey published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that this risk grows with every year of use.

The findings, from a study of some 1,200 people aged 20, could have implications on the global push to decriminalise the plant. In the years 2005-2006, a total of 1,213 participants were asked if they smoked marijuana.
“Support for liberal marijuana use is partly due to claims that it is beneficial and possibly not harmful to health,” said Barbara Yankey, who co-led the research at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University in the United States.
Results of the survey found that 34 per cent used neither marijuana nor cigarettes, 21 per cent used only marijuana, 16 per cent used marijuana and were past smokers, and four per cent smoked only cigarettes.

“It is important to establish whether any health benefits outweigh the potential health, social and economic risks. If marijuana use is implicated in cardiovascular diseases and deaths, then it rests on the health community and policy makers to protect the public,” added Yankey.

The average duration of use among users was 11.5 years. The results showed marijuana users had a 3.42-times higher risk of death from hypertension than non-users, and a 1.04 greater risk for each year of use.

The study, however, did not find any link between marijuana use and dying from heart or cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes.

Although the researchers do not deny the medicinal properties of the herb, they caution against prolonged recreational use, stating: “We are not disputing the possible medicinal benefits of standardised cannabis formulations; however, recreational use of marijuana should be approached with caution.”

Increasingly, people are turning to cannabis to treat a range of symptoms and conditions, including nausea, bipolar disorder, and seizures. But in two separate studies, scientists found little scientific evidence to support either its effectiveness or its safety in the treatment of chronic pain or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). That is because there has not been enough high-quality research to produce conclusive evidence of the benefits or harms of cannabis for pain or PTSD.

“The current studies highlight the real and urgent need for high-quality clinical trials in both of these areas,” said Dr Sachin Patel, a psychiatry researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Both studies were conducted by a team of researchers at the Veterans Health Administration and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“If cannabis is being considered for medical use, it should certainly be after all well-established treatments have failed,” Patel told Reuters.

It is estimated that, in 2012, between 162 million and 324 million people, corresponding to 3.5% and 7% of the world population aged 15-64, had used an illicit drug. In Kenya, bhang is the most widely used, with 1% of the population aged between 16 and 65 years abusing the drug, and unscrupulous businessmen have taken to lacing confectionery with the drug.

Of

176

samples of suspected narcotic-laced confectionery taken to the Government Chemist by authorities in 2015,

86 (48.9%)

tested positive for bhang. The samples comprised mainly of cookies, cakes, and kaimatis.

HOW IT IS USED

Medical marijuana may be:

• Smoked
• Vaporised (heated until active ingredients are released, but no smoke is formed)
• Eaten (usually in the form of cookies or candy)
• Taken as a liquid extract
• Side effects
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Short-term memory loss
• Euphoria
• Severe anxiety
• Psychosis

Risks and limits

Medical marijuana is not monitored like other approved medicines, and so when using it, you don’t know its potential to cause cancer, its purity, potency, or side effects. Where it is legal, only people who have a card from a doctor should use medical marijuana, but doctors will not prescribe it to anyone under 18. You also should not use it if you have a heart disease, are pregnant, or have a history of psychosis.

DID YOU KNOW

Because of its popularity, marijuana has many nicknames. In fact, there is probably not another drug with more alternate names than marijuana, which has been used by various cultures for hundreds of years. In Kenya, the naming varied depending on age group, hence the references pot, bhang, and ganja.

Marijuana is one of the most abused drugs in the world, yet there is an ever-growing gap between the latest science about it and the myths surrounding it. The herb has 500 different chemical compounds which work together in a process known as the entourage effect. This means that if you are to make a medical compound, you need the whole plant. It can be smoked, eaten, inhaled, or consumed in an oil form.