• Banda

By JAMES KUNDA –

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has backed the Green Party on its policy to legalise the cultivation of cannabis.
UPND vice-president for political affairs Canisius Banda said there was nothing wrong with cultivating cannabis for economic purposes.
Mr Banda said this in a write-up titled on backwardness (The case of Cannabis/my thoughts) posted on his facebook page.
“There is nothing wrong with cannabis. Just like you and me ‘dear reader’ Cannabis Sativa, the plant, was also created by God.
“Cannabis is a resource. The wrong thing on the other hand is its utility and our understanding of it and its utilisation and the legislation that governs it,” reads Mr Banda’s write-up in part.
Mr Banda brands those thinking that the only way to use cannabis is to smoke it-dangerous nitwit and inimical in the community.
“Cannabis must be decriminalised the world over. Nonetheless, regulation, albeit wise, just as it exists for many other things ought to remain.
“Peter Sinkamba has a point but it will take time before he is understood. The benefits of Cannabis are many,” he adds.
Mr Banda argued that cannabis was anti-emetic, analgesic, a euphoriant, anti-cancer, an appetite stimulant and it is anti-alopecia that promotes hair growth.
“Just like Zambia boasts of Copper, California boasts of Cannabis, the biggest cash crop, responsible for US$14 billion a year in sales.
“Zambia would do well, under decriminalised but controlled conditions, to start growing Cannabis, and at least, for now until we are a bit more civilised, only for export to countries that have made it legal,” he adds.