EDITOR, The Tribune.
WHILE I do not agree with Rodney Moncur on many things, I am in total agreement with his stand on marijuana. Being a baby boomer I know too well the effect that grass can have on a person. I started smoking in my late teens and continued for several years. At that time if you lived in East Street and other inner city communities you had to be strong not to fall prey to becoming a product of the environment. Peer pressure was endemic. Especially if your parents were not financially stable. That is not to say all of the kids from impoverished families got tangled in the Fowler’s snare. Because the majority of the respected men and women in society today came from the ghetto.
Coming from a family with limited resources I was challenged to make the best of my circumstances. I left school at an early age and worked in the hospitality industry for fifty years starting as a busboy and retired as a food and beverage general manager. During my youthful years I experienced marijuana and cocaine in all of its forms. I can truthfully say speaking from my experience with grass, besides sidetracking you from your goals it is a downer. It makes you lethargic giving you an elusive feeling of euphoria – a high that you keep chasing. So what next? The gateway opens for the white lady. The Big C – a more powerful high, but just as elusive, more expensive, and more deadly.
In 1979 the acclaimed year of the child, Mrs Beryl Hanna was instrumental in bringing Bob Marley and the wailers to Nassau. At the time reverend Simeon Hall vehemently opposed this move. He said that bringing Bob Marley would expose the youth to dreadlocks and Rastafarian faith/culture. Today he is in support of weed for medicinal use. I read in one of the dailies a person in support of marijuana said so what if some one wants to get a little high. What is a little high? Bob Marley came in 1979. In 1980 cocaine started to flood the country and lasted well into the nineties almost wiping out an entire generation leaving many families broken and scarred for the rest of their lives. A lot of my friends died during this period. I was lucky. Saved by grace. But will the next young boy or girl that is introduced to the spliff will he be as fortunate? Are we willing to take that chance?
ANTHONY PRATT
Nassau,
February 2, 2018.
Comments
jamaicaproud 6 years, 2 months ago
I am aJamaican and have never smoked anything. You started smoking over 50 years ago in your community, yet somehow you try to make a link between Bob Marley staying in your country for a short while and Cocaine. Every country &has its issues and Bahamians need to stop blaming outsiders for every issue. Gor your information Jamaica is not the country where everyone smokes weed. In fact the majority have nothing to do withnit. Leave us out of your mixup.
joeblow 6 years, 2 months ago
The author did NOT single you out in his comments, so don't make it personal! But, as an intelligent Jamaican I don't doubt that you are aware of the influence Bob Marley has had, not only in the Bahamas, but in communities around the world. Those communities are associated with three things associated with Jamaica : reggae, dreadlocks (Rasta) and marijuana, whether you like it or not!
Porcupine 6 years, 2 months ago
Sorry, But this is a personal view and unlike the real life experiences of the majority of people. The data does not support your views. If this works for you, great. However, I get very tired of people telling me what I can, and cannot do from a "moral" viewpoint. Bob Marley had the potential to open the world's eyes to many injustices and realities. He wasn't a radical. He was human. Just like Martin Luther King Jr., or Jesus, he had to go because he threatened the war machine and the cruelties of capitalism, and injustice against ALL people. Smoking herb is like eating sugar. Some people can handle it, others get diabetes and die. But, don't make a law saying I can't eat sugar, and then use this as an excuse for our many social problems.
joeblow 6 years, 2 months ago
Interesting that of the three people you chose to use as examples only one used marijuana. The other two also exposed injustices and had a far greater positive impact on world history!
By the way, sugar has less effect on mental health and cognitive function and sugar in and of itself does NOT cause diabetes!
sealice 6 years, 2 months ago
Mr. Pratt shouldn't you be asking Brave Davis and other lawyers on both sides why they continue to defend drug dealers but then expect to respected when they put on a suit and walk in the house? Aren't they 1 step away from the drug dealer..... the reasons that you grew up in a cursed neighborhood? The drug dealers were being encouraged because all the politicians like the kickbacks for letting them go....and now we have to suffer and we will for a while because we still have the same danmed crooked politicians in power???
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