IMDB v2 is actually taking quick action against trolls!

I'm certainly no "druggie" snsurie, but I am a passionate activist for the legalization of the wonderful natural substance known as marijuana for both recreational and medicinal purposes in my country.

Marijuana is not physically addictive and in over ten thousand years of recorded history no one has ever died from using it. Compare that fact with the facts of how many people die because of smoking, alcohol abuse, car accidents, obesity and addiction to hard drugs such as heroin and "tik" (chrystal meth) every year.

I have spent the last 39-years of my life researching marijuana - studying everything about it I have been able to get my hands on, reading books about it, watching documentary films about it, talking to people who use it and, shall we say, experimenting with it personally. So I think it is fair to say I know what I am talking about.

As the late IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosin said about medical marijuana in parliament before his death, "it is a crime against against humanity not to allow this" in South Africa legally. As someone who has witnessed first hand how marijuana use has improved quality of life and allieviated pain in friends suffering from cancer and other horrific diseases I can testify with absolute certainty that what he said is 100 % correct. Even the most basic reasearch on the subject will reveal this.

Legalizing marijuana for recreational use is also something we need to do urgently. One only needs to read some of the balanced, non-sensationalized news articles on the internet or watch the delightful and informative documentary ROLLING PAPERS (2015) to see that the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado (one of eight American states where recreational marijuana is legal - with more to follow in the next few months) has had numerous positive effects on the economy and the people's quality of life in this great state (and folk travelling through it) and virtually no negative effects - nobody should drive a car when under the influence of marijuana, but fortunately those drivers that do this drive so slowly they are not a threat to other road users. Of course, now that it is legal and regulated no businesses in Colorado are allowed to sell marijuna (or the many delicious edibles into which it is mixed) to minors, and this is strictly regulated and adhered to.

South African marijuana activist Julian Stobbs has pointed pointed out that the cost to the state for arresting, prosecuting and applying correctional sanctions in respect of each marijuana offender stands at around R240 000. This is money that could be used far more effectively for fighting higher-priority crimes. Legaisation of marijuana would free law enforcement agencies to spend more time clamping down on trafficking in cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs.

I could go on - I have merely touched the tip of the iceberg here, but I am trying to keep this brief, so let me end by suggesting that the naysayers open their minds and inform themselves by reading up on the subject and watching detailed and well reasearched documentary films such as A NORML LIFE (2011), IN POT WE TRUST (2007), THE UNION: THE BUSINESS BEHIND GETTING HIGH (2007), THE CULTURE HIGH (2015), LYNCHING CHARLIE LYNCH (2012), CLEARING THE SMOKE: THE SCIENCE OF CANNABIS (2011), Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special CNN report WEED and 420 - THE DOCUMENTARY (2013). Many of these fine documentaries are freely available on YouTube.

People need to know the shocking truth behind why something that’s so natural as marijuana - with countless health benefits, capable of greatly benefiting our economy, is illegal?” If folk - pro or con - want to be part of the debate over the legalization of marijuana in our country they need to be informed. With all the good information out there, there is no need for ignorance.