Benefits Of Marijuana In Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

We all should be allowed the freedom to do whatever we want with our lives. Marijuana should be legalized in Nigeria which could help in the development growth of the country. Marijuana is obtained from the cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or medicine. Countries which have legalized marijuana have seen improvements in so many areas such as revenues, employment and crime rates and also health care systems. Legalizing marijuana will help a country like Nigeria exceedingly. Marijuana use in Nigeria should be legalized for both medicinal and casual. Authorizing the use will help Nigeria’s economy, increase in employment rate and decrease in crime rate, medicinal use will also help the health care system. Disallowing

“Several reports put Nigeria’s unemployment rate at about 24 per cent; and 60 per cent of the country’s population are youths, translating to about 80 million Nigeria youths. Youth unemployment rate is over 50 per cent; about 64 million Nigeria youths are unemployed. To think that there are 64 million able body human beings without means of any livelihood is mind boggling. For a nation without any social programs – welfare or unemployment stipend, these 64 million Nigerians live each day looking to survive by all means necessary including involvements in violent criminal acts that constantly threaten the security of the populace” (www.businessdayonline.com). This is very pitiful considering the fact that the country is enthroned with a lot of human and natural resources which is more than enough to provide jobs for the youth. The Legalization of marijuana should help in the increase of employment. In Nigeria marijuana is consumed by 22 per cent of the people (NBF News 22nd November 2010). From the NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) statistics in Nigeria, drug offences had galloped to an alarming level in ten years. In 1990 there were 13 drug prosecutions, which skyrocketed to 1720 incidents in 2008 and 1571 cases in 2009. (NBF News 22nd November 2010). Authorizing the use of the drug will create fewer incidents and save money. Employment rates will

The system also covers the machinery put in place by government for the administration and collection of such taxes. The federally collectable taxes in Nigeria include the petroleum profit tax (PPT), the company’s income tax (CIT), customs and exercise duty and the value added tax (VAT). Though VAT is managed by an agency of the federal government the bulk of the proceeds go to the state governments. The tax which has direct and immediate impact on the average individual is of course, the personal income tax (PIT). It is however not covered in the discussion because the bulk of PIT is derived from the states and accrues to the states of derivation. Each state has its independent machinery for PIT administration and collection. PIT revenue accruable to the federal government comprises PIT derived from residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), armed forces personnel and staff of diplomatic missions”(Okafor, Regina G 2012). Tax revenue refers to compulsory exchange to the central government for public purposes. Certain compulsory transfers such as fines, penalties, and most social security augmentations are excluded. (worldbank.org). According to World Bank from 2010-2014 Nigeria’s tax revenues was at 1.6% of the GDP which is very low for country trying to achieve economic stability. Ten months after the sales marijuana was approved the