Is hemp legal at music shows?

Growing, using, or possessing marijuana is illegal in Malawi. But it appears both production and sales are rising.

The growth in sales means that growers cultivating the drug are motivated by large profits they gain from its sales.

The production and selling of chamba has been increasing in the country over the years.

However, it is arguably premature to ascertain if efforts to curb its production are also on the increase.

In 2010 alone, the Malawi Police Service confiscated about 70 000 kilogrammes of the illicit drug.

According to the United Nations figures on number of chamba seizures in Malawi from 1995 to 2000 published in the 2003 Institute for Security Studies Report, 403 500 kilogrammes of cannabis was impounded.

The availability of ‘weed’ has reached an alarming rate in the country.

And this is evident in public spheres.

At almost every secular music show, revellers party with either chamba or smoke emanating from it.

Men and women are publicly seen selling the product, even luring customers by capitalising on the perceived benefits of chamba.

All this happens in full view of police officers, who are there to ensure security at the shows. Yet, this hallucinogenic variant is banned in Malawi.

In 2000, the Rastafari

community in Malawi went to court to demand the right to smoke marijuana.

This subsequently resulted in government briefly exploring the possible legalisation of Indian hemp, despite police warnings of potential abuse by cannabis growers.

This was championed in Parliament by the then Deputy Minister of Agriculture Joe Manduwa, who argued that the plant could be a valuable alternative to tobacco.

The idea was supported by a number of MPs, but it never saw the light of day, meaning chamba remains illegal in Malawi.

Malawi Police Service press and public relations officer, Rhoda Manjolo, says the responsibility of providing security is for everyone in the country.

“People need to be proactive in terms of security and not wait for the police to always act. It is high time we start taking a collective measure. There are a lot of people who have been arrested for being found in possession of chamba, for instance.

“Talking about chamba smoking or selling at musical shows, there are a lot of people at such events as compared to the number of police officers, who are evidently busy with other equally important things,” she says.

Manjolo explains that sometimes the police miss out on certain things happening at the event.

“Again, police feel that arresting people at such places is disturbing the freedom and enjoyable environment for people,” she explains.

On their part, Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) says police are to blame for the proliferation of chamba, even in townships where youths are openly puffing on the blunt.

“Some police personel do not go to musical shows to work, but to enjoy with the people; hence, they forget their number one responsibility: security. The police are to blame because they are mandated by law to control any kind of misbehaviour.

“As MUM, we have agreed that no one should be seen smoking chamba in public and check around, many musicians are respecting that. It’s the fans and the police that are misbehaving,” argues the union’s president Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango.

Clinical psychologist Chiwoza Bandawe contends the police are not assuming their key responsibility of enforcing law and order.

“People are motivated by profit and are attracted to where there are customers. A social event is attractive to such persons. Therefore; people take advantage of social events like musical gigs to do things like the sell or smoking of chamba.

“However, this demonstrates that the enforcement agencies are not actively enforcing the law. The society is also watching without approaching such people and asking to smoke elsewhere or to stop,” he states.

According to Bandawe, marijuana is a harmful substance whose main chemical ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a fatty substance that remains in the body for up to three months after smoking.

It is associated with mental health problems in particular cannabis induced psychosis due to damage to the brain cells that THC causes.