I am fascinated wit dat lil illegal herb called Ganja ……. and no ……... ah doh bun it …… but I have been a victim of secondhand smoke …… many times …… my fascination stems from the media coverage that marijuana gets …… cuz …… just as we’re guaranteed a murder story …… daily ….. the same now applies to ganja!!!

Yesterday …… splashed on the front page of the Newsday …… was a big ganja leaf …… and the words ....... "Magistrate orders teenager to write - Why I hate Ganja" ….. so naturally …… I was intrigued ……. cuz I NEVER hear anybody say dey “hate” ganja!!!

 

Then today ……. like a delayed reaction ……. de same story come out in de Express ...... in a nutshell …….. diz de scene  …… a boy was caught with 3 grammes of marijuana ……. arrested, charged and taken to Court …… along with being put on bail with a $20,000 surety …… he was also sentenced to read a book called ‘The Pearl’ …… and to handwrite a 1000-word essay entitled …… “Why I should not smoke marijuana” ….. NOT ……. “Why I hate ganja”!!! ……. as the Newsday front page alluded to (clearly a sensationalist move to sell papers!!!!!) ……. oh ….. and to facilitate de reading and writing project …… the Magistrate also banned him from leaving the house after 5:00 pm …… from having ‘friends’ over …… and from talking on his cell …… which was confiscated!!! 

But let’s go back a bit …… to before he get busted ……. de boy is 17 years old (but looks more like 40!) …… he is 6’ 1” tall (why did we need to know this??!!) ….. he left school when he was in Form 3 ….. he cyah remember de last book he read (a situation which is about to be rectified!) ….. he is a “salesman” (of what? you ask ..… dey eh say!) ….. prior to his arrest …… he lived with his mother (who has a heart condition) …… and he has now been placed in the custody of his father (who is a recovering alcoholic) …… so basically …. he back on he own!!! 

Now there was much debate among legal heads ….... on the legality of the “sentencing” …. i.e. writing an essay and reading a book ….. cuz apparently the law outlines specific methods of punishment for minors …… and it eh include none ah dem ting ….. however ….. the general consensus was that …… the odd “sentence” could only do him good ….. motivate him even! 

My peeve is this tho …… yuh charge ah boy fuh possession of marijuana …. cuz it illegal …… to plant, to possess, to smoke, to sell, to inhale ...... it jus against de law …….. and as ‘punishment’ …… yuh force him tuh write an essay ….. about something he totally does not believe in ….. and would inevitably have to lie about …… all in the hope that maybe he’ll see the error of his ways!? 

Now we all know what the Magistrate hoped to achieve ...... by imposing this type of rehabilitative, airy-fairy sentence ……. but HELLO! ….. let’s be real ……. dis sentence alone will drive de boy straight back tuh he beloved ganja ……. cuz imagine his frustration at trying to find 1000 words of pure BS ….. you and I both know that …… dah boy doh tink he should stop smoking ganja …… nobody who smokes ganja tink dey shouldn’t be doing it ……. they would all agree ….. that they should do it more discreetly! …… but not that they shouldn’t do it at all!!! ……. if I had to write dat essay …… 1000 “letters” ….. safe! ……. but a 1000 “words” ….. no way! 

So while some (including the boy’s father) are thinking that he get off “better” …… I sure de boy woulda prefer tuh pass he time in de Youth Training Centre instead! …… cuz ironically …… de “Why I hate Ganja” newspaper …… had another ganja story …… on de same page wit dah essay writing story ……. two men were found with ganja …. while in the prisoners’ cells of the Port of Spain Magistrates Court …… turns out …… they were caught ….. cuz vigilant police officers …..picked up the scent of the ganja coming from the cells …… so yuh see what ah mean …… I sure ……. given a choice …… de boy woulda easily forgo his literary masterpiece …… tuh go tuh jail ….. cuz evidently …… he would still be able tuh get he ganja dey!!!

But seriously tho ….. ah getting ah clueless vibes ….. if you have ganja on your person …… could someone smell it jus so? ….. or yuh have tuh be ‘bunnin’ it …… fuh de ‘scent’ tuh be picked up?!?! ……. cuz what I’m trying to figure out is this …… were the two prisoners smoking in de holding cell ….. in ah Court ?!?!?!? …… or is it dat dem police jus trained (like dog) tuh sniff out ganja?!?!? 

Mr. Boy is supposed to start SERVOL later this year ….. and in the interim his 22 year old brother is seeking employment for him in construction.  I really hope that Mr. Boy can pull it together …… and straighten out his life ….. cuz it is never good to hear about youths going astray …… I also hope that his essay is made available to the public …… in the hope that it inspires others to think differently ….. to just “do the right thing”!!!