NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 10 – A heated debate emerged among lawmakers over the regulation of bhang, with some leaders calling for a shift from prohibition to a more pragmatic, regulated approach.
Ugenya MP David Ouma noted that countries such as Mexico, the United States, and South Africa have embraced controlled use of cannabis, including for medicinal purposes, questioning why Kenya continues to rely on what he termed a ‘colonial approach.’
He shared a personal account of using bhang for pain relief, highlighting the complex role the substance plays in society, both as a drug of abuse and a potential medicinal product.
“Five years ago, I went down with terrible back pain. I was recommended for surgery in India, but a certain doctor told me, ‘No, you are too young for back surgery.’ For a whole year, I got bhang every evening at 10 p.m., boiled it, and took it. I did that for a whole year, and I got better,” the Ugenya MP narrated.
Deputy Majority Leader Owen Baya also cautioned against what he described as a “defeatist” approach to the problem, rejecting calls for legalisation as a solution to rising drug use.
“The route Hon. David is taking is very defeatist. Just because bhang is being smoked and the police impound it does not mean we should legalise it and make it available to everybody. It is like saying that because people are being killed every day, we should allow others to kill as well,” Baya said in his remarks.
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris and Dagoretti MP Beatrice Elachi noted that bhang is easily accessible ‘even through online platforms’ and is already being used informally for pain management in some households.
“Let us be realistic as a country. When my grandmother was ailing, I was giving her scientific medical painkillers, while my uncle was boiling bhang for her and giving her bhang tea to relieve her pain. We must have this conversation as a country,” Passaris stated.
Elachi called for a more balanced approach, suggesting that if legalisation is considered, it must be accompanied by strict regulations and safeguards.
“While speaking about this, it is sad that at our rallies, bhang is the cigarette that many youths are using. So we must ask ourselves, as a country, that as much as we say it is illegal, you cannot tell any Nairobian at a rally to stop using it,” she noted.
The lawmakers during debate regarding the narcotic drug trafficking through public transport systems.
According to the UNODC World Drug Report, public buses, trains, and personal vehicles are primary vectors for moving cannabis, heroin, and cocaine inland from porous coastal ports or borders.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations indicates operations by anti-narcotics detectives routinely result in significant interceptions. For example, joint operations in Kenya have yielded massive individual busts, such as the interception of over 170 kilograms of marijuana (estimated at KSh 5.1 million) and the removal of couriers carrying cocaine concealed beneath shoe insoles on commercial buses.
