ZDDM president Edwin Sakala has told Qfm news in a statement that his party has realized that many people in the country have come to think that the political parties making this call are calling for a situation where people can be free to smoke marijuana freely.
Mr. Sakala says this understanding is very wrong because even the countries which cultivate and export marijuana they do this in a controlled environment.
He says his party believes that that it is against this background of misunderstanding that Home Affairs Minister Ngosa Simbyakula and the Patriotic Front (PF) government has been making statements opposing the continued calls for a new law legalizing the growing of marijuana in Zambia.
The ZDDM leader says in view such understanding it is also clear people are not aware that growing marijuana under a controlled environment or even under a license is a brilliant idea which can help Zambia join other countries like South Africa to earn a lot of foreign exchange.
He states that it is important that those opposed to this idea must be made to understand that those calling for marijuana to be legalized are not calling for a law which will allow people to smoke it but rather having it grown under controlled environments and for export to pharmaceutical companies.
Mr. Sakala further states that legalizing the growing of marijuana under controlled environments will also help the nation stop wasting resources on criminalizing citizens who continue to cultivate marijuana which was widely grown in Zambia for many years for its medicinal value.