David Ndii: I smoked marijuana in high school and still passed exams, legalise it

Controversial and outspoken Kenyan economist David Ndii has confessed that he smoked weed while in high school and excelled in his final examinations.

Adding his voice to the chorus for the legalisation of marijuana, Ndii said cannabis sativa or bhang needed to be legalised given many people in the country smoke it anyway and only poor people are jailed for using it.

"Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, Uhuru Kenyatta, Mike Sonko among others. Criminalisation of marijuana is hypocritical, oppressive. Only poor people go to jail for marijuana offences. #LegaliseMarijuana."

He argued that weed was banned by the British colonial government and needed a reversal.

“Marijuana was criminalized by colonialists. It follows that if we decriminalize it, the crime of smoking bhang will cease to exist. I smoked bhang occasionally in secondary school (age 12-16), still topped my school in O-Level exams. #LegalizeMarijuana,” he tweeted.

Cannabis flower.

Ndii argues that smoking marijuana is not determined by one’s status in society.

“What’s the cause and what’s effect? Is it marijuana that made their lives miserable, or did their lives become miserable, and they took to smoking weed to cope, or is there in fact no relationship at all since marijuana smoking is prevalent in all strata of society?” he posed.

The economist has equated continued ban on marijuana to continuation of colonialism.

“Civil liberty is a most important issue. I cannot think of a more important issue in society than political rights and civil liberties. Criminalization of marijuana and traditional liquor is a continuation of colonialism,” Ndii added.

This comes a day after the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) blamed drug abuse for increased indiscipline and arson being reported in school across Kenya.