Criminalization of Cannabis for personal use has been considered universally as "Punishing drugs use ", Poverty and Status.

Imprisonment does not help!!

Criminalization unnecessarily generates criminal records for youthful populations who have to contend with negative consequences of imprisonment including, breaking families, school drop out, diminution of employment opportunities and being pushed to undergrounds economy that leads and contribute to a revolving door of recidivism.

Mothers found in possession for personal use often come from impoverished and marginalized house holds. They leave their emotionally wounded children behind or accompany them to already overcrowded and overwhelmed prison systems. A inhuman treatment to the children. 

A cycle of stigmatization ensues not to mention the economic burden of police fines and prison visits by relatives and friends. 

Criminalization entrenches poor public v/s police relations due to arbitrary arrest, unwarranted illegal stop and searches that infringe on personal rights and perpetuate small bribes.

Section 3(3b and 3c) of the Narcotics Act

• Section 3(3b) 
"Subsection (1) [Penalty for possession], shall not apply to a medical practitioner, dentist, veterinary surgeon or registered pharmacist who is in possession of a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance [CANNABIS] for any medical purposes.

• Section 3(3c) 
"Subsection (1) [Penalty for possession], shall not apply to a person who possesses the Narcotic drug or psychotropic substance [CANNABIS] for medical purposes from, or pursuant to a prescription of, a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon" 

Addiction is not a crime but a trauma response, criminalization of addiction is criminalization of Mental Health. 

Its evidently obvious that criminalization has been discriminatory, retributive and not a deterrent but rather a colonial and archaic law within our penal code that targets and seeks to punish poor, marginalized and vulnerable persons in our society without any restoration of the individual or community.  

Social experiments and political goodwill from countries like Portugal, Canada and South Africa have shown that community based alternatives, public health interventions supported by legislative and policy regulation drastically reduces abuse of cannabis, juvenile incarceration, broken families, homelessness, stigma and has a positive transformational impact on the economy through the entire value chain. 

Many young people are taught and coerced into fear of punishment from using drugs instead of being 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.

The Coalition Action For Preventive Mental Health Kenya -CAPMHK invites you to sign and share this petition and 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.   

This petition will form part of an advocacy process towards 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!