In March this year, Parliament passed the Cannabis Regulations Bill, something that was quite unexpected in a country like ours.
The bill sought to legalise the commercialisation of local breeds of cannabis that have been demonised for a long time.
As was expected, the bill was quickly dubbed the ‘Chamba Bill’, christening it with a name that denotes social stigma towards and disapproval of marijuana in the country.
In our society, the local name for cannabis – chamba – is associated with madness, lawlessness and disorder, among other negatives. As such, some of us were not surprised when the President Lazarus Chakwera did not assent to the bill.
From the grapevines, it is said that the President refused to append his signature to the bill because there was need for thorough consultations before it was brought to Parliament and to his office.
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While that may be true, one cannot help but read between the lines in what we are being allowed to know about the issue. Knowing how sensitive our society is when it comes to issues of ethics and morality, Chakwera was most likely to have a tough time deciding on the proposed bill.
For those who see cannabis as the devil, assenting to such a bill would amount to unleashing a monster to wreak havoc.
As already reported in the papers, the faith community is one of those stakeholders who have expressed concern on lack of consultations.
Religious institutions hold a lot of power in Malawi and they are known to influence some political decisions. For some reason, most Malawians believe that ours is a God-fearing country, and this has given religious people some authority that is sometimes questionable.
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Christians and Muslims, especially, see themselves as the moral police, despite all the scandals that some men and women of faith are known for in this country.
And since the majority of Malawians are religious, politicians sometimes fail to make tough decisions that may offend the faithful for fear of losing popularity. As we already know, the masses are the grass they graze on.
But while we are a God-fearing country, we must remember that we are also one of the poorest countries on Earth.
One of the reasons we are impoverished is that we lack the capacity to grow our economy by capitalising on local products for export.
For so long, we have depended on tobacco as our main cash crop, but that leaf is now out of favour among those who have the money to spend.
Since we were told that we must find alternatives to tobacco, we have been struggling and we want to continue on that path.
In our dilemma, some have wondered why we are at pains when God gave us potent breeds of cannabis that we can capitalise on.
But we have always been afraid of cannabis and our fears are utmost unfounded.
The main argument that the moral police make against cannabis is that it is a substance that often leads to madness and can cause chaos in society.
But thinking that legalising the commercialisation of cannabis will lead to chaos is committing a fallacy of slippery slope; where one assumes that one action will trigger a series of disastrous events.
There is no evidence that this would be the case. Alcohol is legal, but not everyone drinks. The tobacco we have been growing for years is hazardous but legal, and not everyone smokes.
Countries like The Netherlands and some states in America have legalised marijuana, but not everyone is smoking and the entire population there has not gone mad. In the end, trading in cannabis or using it goes down to individual choices.
As we assume that the Cannabis Regulations Bill will undergo consultations, it is important to remember to be sober when deliberating over the issue.
It is crucial that, when making decisions of national interest, reason must outdo passion. Our decision makers should be able to strike a balance between the pros and cons of legally commercialising local cannabis.
If we draft a law that properly regulates the use and sale of the herb, there would be no need for panic in those holding the moral campus. And if we act on emotions, we may just be closing a door that would have seen us walk out of poverty.
