MPs have been asked to reject a bill seeking to legalise marijuana because it will worsen drug addiction and mental illness.
Psychiatrist Njagi Kumantha said the bill sponsored by Kibra MP Ken Okoth is ill-advised. “Our youths are already affected by drug abuse.
Legalising marijuana will worsen the situation,” Kumantha said.
The former director of Mathari Mental Hospital said doctors will refuse to prescribe the drug if MPs pass the bill. Kumantha who now runs a rehabilitation centre in Nairobi asked MPs to get facts about marijuana before debating the bill.
“The drug was banned many years ago. There is no need to bring it back,” he said. Kumantha said he treats people suffering from the effects of Marijuana. He said the drug causes mental illness.
At least 10 per cent of people taken to Mathari Mental Hospital suffer from effects of abusing marijuana, he said. Those who smoke bhang have no motivation, hence the rampant cases of suicides and people killing each other, he said.