Legalize It December 30
“Legalize it,“ sings Peter Tosh, and Trinbagonians increasingly agree. Faris Al-Rawi, Attorney General and my would-be prosecutor, has endorsed a measure to bring ganja liberalization before Parliament in 2019. This may be an encouraging sign of tolerance, but his aforementioned personal writing sample suggests a man locked and loaded. Regardless, the proposed law will treat cannabis like Babash, the moonshine of Trinidad, which is controlled for private production and use. As long as you do not sell it without a license, you can grow, possess, refine, consume, and share it. Juice fuh dee lime.
Prior to Independence, in 1962, weed was legal on the islands. East Indians apparently used the stuff for religious purposes, according to ministerial attorney Israel Khan. “If you wanted more than five ounces, you had to go to the warden’s office and get a permit to buy from the shop.“ This was back during the golden age of Calypso music. Like the Hindu, Calypsonian shamans, called Chantwells—singers like the Mighty Shadow, the Mighty Swallow, and a host of Lords—also used the weed and the Babash for religious purposes.
In the US, prisons are full of incarcerated young men for the pettiest of drug offenses, and the same is true here. This culture may have no problem with ganja, but the government does, and this has been the rub for a long time. Jamaica shares a similar parliamentary friction; hence, sings the Rasta Man, “If you continue to burn down the herb, we gonna burn down the cane fields.“
If AG Al-Rawi guesses right, liberalization of cannabis is the future. Canada has led the way, in the eyes of many; and if the Queen’s commonwealth gets to have it, then why can’t we? One minister has even suggested decriminalizing opium poppy and coca. He emphasizes the positive financial impact. Schools will be funded by the tax revenues. The murder rate will fall. The innocent will be freed. The sick will be cured. The black market will turn green. The narco-cartels will run away. The anxieties will dissolve. The sins will be forgiven. Everyone will be high and happy. The Mighty Duke will find his groove. Sing it, Lo’dy:
What is calypso?
I’m sure you really don’t know.
I wonder if you know
The true meaning of calypso.
Because the words that we rhyme and sing
Is only half the thing.
I can tell you that
Calypso is more than a work of art.
It is a feeling which comes from deep within,
A tale of joy or one of suffering,
It’s an editorial in song of the life that we undergo.
That and only that, I know, is true calypso.
I do hope that the Attorney General is receptive to these ideas. I understand he is Muslim. I regret wishing his family a merry Christmas. I pray for tolerance in the new year.