Criminalization of Cannabis for personal use has been considered universally as "Punishing drugs dependents  ", Poverty and Status. It unnecessarily generates criminal records for youthful populations who have to contend with negative consequences of imprisonment including diminution of employment opportunities and being pushed to undergrounds economy, stigmatization, entrenchment of poor public v/s police relations due to arbitrary arrest, unwarranted illegal stop and searches that infringe on personal rights and perpetuate small bribes, impoverishment of already poor and marginalized house holds with police fines and prisons visits by relatives and friends, overcrowding of prisons and overwhelming tax burden not to mention contributing to revolving door of recidivism. 

The global push for decriminalization and regulation has accelerated and got a  boost last year 2021 following the recommendations of WHO to remove Cannabis and Cannabis Resins from schedule IV of the 1961 Single convention on Narcotics Drugs. This paves way for countries to mirror the UN rescheduling in domestic legislation to remove obstacles to use cannabis for medical and research purposes. Social experiments and political goodwill from countries like Portugal, Canada and South Africa have shown that decriminalize and regulation drastically reduces abuse of cannabis, juvenile incarceration, broken families, homelessness, stigma  and has a positive impact on the economy through the entire value chain. 

By signing and sharing this petition you become part of a honest and informed  engagement of the Kenyan citizenry and global advocates in a debate on what has hitherto been considered a taboo topic, many young people are taught not how to use drugs but they are not taught how to be safe around the decisions they make surrounding drugs. Change is what happens when a society addresses peoples needs, gives them the right support, encouragement and accountability. This petition will form part of a litigation process of Decriminalization of Cannabis and lay a civic initiated foundation for a multi-stakeholder engagement for creating sustainable policies and legal frameworks for drugs dependence.  .

Thank you for your support!