Kenyan rapper Octopizzo has made an appeal to President-elect William Ruto to decriminalize marijuana.
According to him, it is unfair for young people to lose their lives to 'petty' crimes. He claims having worked with prisons in Kenya, he has met young people languishing in jail for being caught with a few joints of weed.
The artiste argues that the law should be tough on people selling weed in large quantities and not a few joints.
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"I'm asking you to decriminalise weed not exactly to legalize it. I know of government officials in the weed business and I know you too know.
"We have young people in juvenile because they were nabbed with weed worth Ksh 100 and are serving more than five years there, it's not fair. If you are moving kilos its okay, but one joint? Some of us use it for recreational purposes," he said.
At the same time, Octopizzo asked Ruto to embrace a part of his rival Prof. George Wajackoyah's manifesto about marijuana.
"Also look at the economic value of weed, its a multi-billion industry," he added.
If weed is decriminalized, it would mean that although it still carries criminal penalties when found in pocession, one would not be subjected to a legal action if it is for personal use.
