Arguments on the usefulness, effectiveness or existence of the Indian Hemp Act may become unnecessary in the Nigerian society if the Bill before the House of Representatives seeking to legalise the cultivation and use of cannabis for recreational and medicinal use is revisited and scales through. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE in this piece explores rudiments of the law that criminalises cannabis in Nigeria and why it seems ineffective.
As Nigeria continues to groan under the pandemic of drug use and trafficking; especially the flagrant use of cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp in disobedience to the Indian Hemp Act, many have continued to ask if the law only exists on paper and is a dead letter law.
And while the effectiveness of these is still being argued, another argument has cropped up as many people have continually called for the legalisation of Indian hemp on the basis of happenings in some countries like Canada, United States of America and Netherlands.
The call for official backing was made recently when a Bill was presented before the House of Representatives, seeking to legalise the cultivation and use of cannabis for recreational and medicinal use.
The bill was co-sponsored by Marian Onuha, Ben Kalu and Olumide Osoba and it sought to give the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) the power to regulate the growth and consumption of cannabis. However, during the debate, the bill was opposed by several members of the House on the basis that cannabis is addictive and it was stepped down following huge opposition from several members.
Also, in 2019, the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, proposed the legalisation of cannabis growing in the state for medical use. He repeated the call in year 2020.
This development, however, spread the call for the legalisation of the cultivation of hemp and if the Bill is revisited by the legislators and passed, cannabis use may become legal in Nigeria and the Indian Hemp Act will become obsolete. However, at present, hemp is illegal in Nigeria and flouting this law attracts huge penalty.
Indian hemp use in Nigeria
In Nigeria, the use of cannabis sativa, also known by other names like Indian hemp, weed, igbo or ganja, is common place irrespective of restrictive regulations and it is even celebrated socially even in the entertainment industry where there are many songs talking about weed and other drugs in celebratory tones and music videos of people smoking cannabis. And this is not a new phenomenon in the music industry; it had been a fad for decades.
People now openly smoke cannabis as a form of recreation, making it appear like an acceptable recreational drug socially in Nigeria in spite of the law.
A 2018 report by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) confirmed this when it ranked Nigeria the world’s highest consumers of cannabis, revealing Marijuana to be the most consumed “drug” in Nigeria as it was being consumed by an estimated 10.8% of the population then.
This translates to 10.6 million Nigerians who in one way or another indulged in the use of cannabis.
Wikipedia further reiterated this when it reported that cannabis in Nigeria is illegal, yet the country is a major source of West African-grown cannabis as it is widely grown across the States of the federation, including Ondo State, Edo State, Delta State, Osun State, Oyo State and Ogun State.
Indian Hemp Act
The law was signed into law on March 31, 1966 and has undergone numerous changes over the years. The Indian Hemp Decree or the Indian Hemp Act was enacted in Nigeria by Major General Aguiyi Ironsi; it was preceded by the Dangerous Drug Ordinance of 1935, which restricted opium and other drugs.
The Indian Hemp Act provides to make the planting, cultivation and importation of Indian hemp an offence and to make provisions for other related matters.
By virtue of the act, Indian hemp means: any plant or part of a plant of the genus cannabis, the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from any plant of the genus cannabis and any preparation containing any such resin by whatever name that plant, part, resin or preparation may be called.
The law provides that any person who knowingly plants or cultivates any plant of the genus cannabis shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced either to death or to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty-one years and anyone found guilty of the unlawful importation or sale of Indian hemp shall be liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty-one years.
However, anyone who imports or sells marijuana for medical reasons is exempted from this law while anyone found guilty of the exportation of Indian hemp shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty-one years.
Indian hemp smokers are not exempted from the law; any person who smokes any Indian hemp or knowingly has any Indian hemp in his possession, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years without the option of a fine, if however, such person is not more than seventeen years of age, he shall, in addition to twenty-one strokes of the cane, be sentenced to two years in a borstal or such similar institution or to a fine of N200.
The law further provides that any person who, knowingly has in his possession, any pipe or other utensil for use in connection with the smoking of Indian hemp shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
Owners who also permit their properties to be used for the smoking, sale or preparation of Indian Hemp shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years without the option of a fine and anyone who assists in the commission of the offence shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years, without the option of a fine.
And where any person is convicted of any offence under this Act, all articles including any vehicle or vessel used by him in connection with the offence shall be forfeited and where any such forfeited article is a pipe or other utensil for use in connection with the smoking of Indian hemp, the court may order it to be destroyed.
The Act also provides for corporal punishment of offences committed under this Act.
Legislative trail
Before the enactment of the Indian Hemp Act, the use of cannabis in Nigeria was limited by a series of statutes, including the 1935 Dangerous Drugs Act when Nigeria was still under British rule.
But after independence in 1960, the country promulgated an Indian Hemp Decree of 1966 which was amended in 1975 and 1984 respectively.
While the 1966 decree recommended death penalty for hemp cultivation, that of 1975 decree removed the threat of capital punishment, and in its 1984 amendment increased penalties and jail terms.
Doguwa’s amendment bill for stiffer penalty
In December 2020, the House of Representatives mulled imprisonment for farmers, sellers and smokers of Indian Hemp in Nigeria through an amendment Bill which sought to amend the contemporary Indian Hemp Act to provide for stiffer punitive measures against promoters of the substance.
The Bill titled, “Indian Hemp Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (HB. 1081) was sponsored by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan Ado Dogowa.
It was read for the first time on October 20, 2020, at the plenary of the House and it prescribed Doguwa’s amendment harsher punishments which included imprisonment for the farmers, sellers and smokers of Indian hemp.
He said the bill would curb the abuse of Indian hemp in the country.
Speaking on the Bill then, Doguwa said, “The bill is still awaiting second reading. It’s intended to curb the menace and social vices borne by sellers and users of Indian hemp amongst our vulnerable youths in the society.
“Stiffer punishments would be provided; in some cases, imprisonment without an option to be able to eradicate it all in the country.
“Apart from the moral and social vices, the health implication is yet another serious problem that we must agree to fight,” he had explained.
Effective and not effective legislation
But despite this law and the stiff penalties, cannabis is still socially accepted for many reasons in the Nigerian society for some reasons; and the major reason is that many people see it as a victimless crime and believes that government is mainly acting like a moral police in attempting to regulate it.
Many also do not believe that the law is being enforced. An advocate, Anu Mabadeje told Nigerian Tribune that “dissuading people on Indian hemp use is difficult in Nigeria because even when they are told it is illegal, they just laugh at you like you are an alien.
“While they know that there is a law, they don’t believe that the government enforces it. You can’t fault their reasoning, more often than not, these people are patronised by some bad eggs among security agents and are known in many joints. How do you arrest people who you sit and smoke together,” he asked.
A lawyer, Odion Usual said “the matter is clear and simple, we have many users because the law is not effectively implemented and law enforcement agency aid these people. If the law is being enforced effectively, there would be multitudes of arrests and prosecutions regularly but that’s not the case.
The law works
That many get away with flouting the Indian Hemp Act is not enough to make people believe the law doesn’t exist or the government never prosecutes cannabis offences; there had been many prosecutions on cannabis related offences and while the numbers of those being arrested and prosecuted for cannabis related offences may not be humongous, there are regular arrests and prosecutions across the magisterial divisions in particular.
The police on regular basis parade suspects for being in possession of restricted drugs like cannabis and arraign them before courts of competent jurisdictions for prosecution.
Example of cases on cannabis related offences taken before courts are Hudu v FRN, Nwaidem v FRN, Pawa v FRN, Tajudeen v FRN, Ossai v FRN, Shodipo v FRN, Mohammed v FRN, Ochala v FRN, Rabe v FRN, Akanni v FRN, Ugwanyi v FRN, Okewu v FRN, Oyem v FRN, Abdullahi v FRN, Blessing v FRN etc.
These cases moved through all levels of litigation to the Supreme Court in recent years and there are many cases that terminate at the High Court upon conviction.
Ifeanyi Blessing was in 2011 prosecuted for unlawful possession of cannabis before a High court, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment; a decision that was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
The law may seem not to work because the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seems to focus on big players in the business but they also prosecute people smoking and unlawful possession offences and it may reach any offender anytime.
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