COSTA RICA NEWS – Recent polls show that many Costa Ricans would be open to the legalization of cannabis. About 1% of the population regularly uses marijuana. Although the Chinchilla administration hinted at the idea that this legalization could be the fix to the rampant drug problems in the region, but the public doesn’t seem to agree with that connection on this point.
Time will tell, as will the “experiments,” being done in some US states and in Uruguay. Let’s see what happens there before we make any changes to the laws here, many think.
There’s validity to learning from others, but I think we must also start to think for ourselves. What is going on here in Costa Rica and what needs to happen to fix it?
Did you know that all drug related charges, from production to selling, carry an 8-12 year sentence? That means that my friend who grows a few cannabis plants and smokes for medical reasons in the privacy of his own apartment could go to jail for 12 years, alongside the guy who is organizing the sale of cocaine to minors on the streets. That’s insane, if you ask me.
Since studies all over the world are showing how cannabis can help treat the symptoms of many diseases, from cancer to Tourette’s, the public opinion on the matter has been shifting. Cannabis is no longer viewed as equal to hard drugs. A more just set of laws and punishments needs to come to be in Costa Rica.
No one is arguing in favor of the organized crime and drug rings that have been moving into Costa Rica, but why not focus the laws on curbing them instead of considering all drugs the same? Why not make some sort of distinction between the rural farmers growing cannabis and those foreigners cultivating mass indoor productions of modified cannabis with crazy levels of THC?
Maybe it’s time that Costa Rica’s laws and enforcement policies catch up with the various levels of what’s actually going on inside the country and out.
Source: Costa Rican Times, reposted with permission
