We are beating our heads against the proverbial wall about revenue, the crime monster and societal corruption. A part of the solution is staring at us and we refuse to accept it.

The cash-strapped state of California has been harnessing the power of marijuana. Since 2007, the Oaksterdam Cannabis University has opened its doors and has graduated thousands of students who are equipped in the business of planting, producing and developing medical marijuana-related businesses with logical spin-offs into the realm of cosmetics and other areas. In September, California legislature passed a bill to create a University of California programme designed for the study of the medical uses of marijuana, which is alleged to have been used for many human and animal-related maladies for over 3,000 years.

crime monster

Let us legally establish our hemp and cannabis farms for medical and legal-export purposes. Instead of destabilising the food chain by using sugar cane and corn, why not use the discarded marijuana plant? To get to the point, our marijuana farmers are hard-working people. The turnaround time for their crops is a little over six weeks, and the reward is satisfactory. With the proceeds, they can put food on the table and send their children to school. This will lessen the anger against a society that cannot adequately support its people, and the inevitable weakening of the crime monster.

When our security forces in their joint operations engage helicopters and spend much-needed public funds in searching for the small farmers' weed farms to burn or cut down, our nation, on the other hand, is burning because of the murders, rapes and robberies that abound.

Why not decriminalise and stop the waste of public resources? Why not concentrate on the crimes that are repugnant to the society? Guns for drugs could be under better control if marijuana was under legal control.

I am, etc.,

VERNA GORDON BINNS

theashton@cwjamaica.com

Black River

St Elizabeth