A petition asking to legalize possession and use of up to 10 grams of cannabis has been rejected by the Sindh High Court.
The petition filed by senior advocate Ghulam Asghar Saien was presented before court bench comprising of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Arshad Khan, who rejected it and conveyed their disapproval and anger to the petitioner’s counsel asking him why such kind of petitions are being brought up.
Upon this, the petitioner’s advocate stated that he is a poor man and has brought up the petition in public interest. He attempted to defend his argument with the examples of various countries where possession and use of Marijuana is legal. He also stated that many decent people in our country smoke Marijuana, but the police harasses them for it. He cited its medicinal and economic benefits, and even referred to the federal government’s decision to cultivate cannabis for scientific use. The court however, rejected these arguments and told the petitioner to go to those countries where it is legal.
Law ministry, the federal government and provincial departments were addressed in the petition.
The petitioner’s counsel insisted that Marijuana is widely used by people, but currently money made from its sale is not traceable, therefore granting permission to keep or smoke a small quantity of Marijuana would help the country’s economy by generating revenue. It would also save citizens from being harassed and publicly insulted by the police.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar rebutted the argument, saying that “the country does not want such income, there are other legitimate ways to increase income.”
The court then dismissed the petition, disposing off the matter.
The petitioner complained that he had filed the petition after a research of three months, but he was not heard. At this, the judge warned him of imposing a fine of Rs. 100000, to which he replied, “I’m a poor man, I can’t pay the fine. Give me death penalty, what else could I say?”
Some time back, a research by a German institute claimed that Karachi has the second highest number of cannabis smokers in the world.
