Ganja rush in US

Sign of The Times

Remember when? Our hills were alive, not with the “sound of music”, but with the drones of US helicopters, as US and regional troops carried out regular marijuana eradication raids?{{more}}

Remember when? Caribbean countries were threatened by their powerful northern neighbour for not taking sufficiently strong steps to get rid of marijuana cultivation?

Well, who would have imagined that by 2014, state after state in the United States of America would be passing laws to legalize marijuana, whether for medical or recreational purposes? Or that in one of those states there would be big rushes on New Year’s Day by customers to purchase ganja.

Yes, it happened in the mid-west state of Colorado, where the legalisation came into effect on January 1, one in a growing number all across the country. A wash of states among them Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, California, New Mexico and a number of the ‘New England’ states in the north-east, have passed laws, permitting the legal use of marijuana. The precise nature, purpose and legal amounts allowed vary, but a definite trend has been established.

The Governor of New York State Mario Cuomo, is expected to announce executive action allowing the use of the herb by persons who are seriously ill and for whom it is prescribed. Up to 20 hospitals are to be permitted to prescribe marijuana use for patients with cancer, glaucoma and other diseases.

Another SIGN OF THE TIMES?