Samson Oyeneyin
“It’s a substance of healing.”
My name is Samson Oyeneyin. I'm from Nigeria and I’m 37.
I never liked weed originally. Growing up, I never liked smoking, never liked people that smoked, never even liked the idea of weed or anything like that. It was looked down upon originally by my culture and by my tradition and considered such a terrible thing to do.
But my perspective has changed a lot since then, mostly since I started smoking to help with my depression.
Now I know it's more of a substance of healing, it's a substance of relief. It relieves you of so many things like from pain, to depression, to appetite and, many other things. It's a very good thing to have as part of your medicinal repertoire.
I never had a personal experience with law enforcement but I know people that did and they really went through it! I know a couple guys, it was off a dime bag, and it was hard for them to get a job for years just because it keeps popping up on their record every time they pull it up. So it’s made a very, very terrible impact in the lives of the people that I care about. Outside of that, there are the drug tests. Especially in Maryland, back in the day. A drug test for weed is like the number one thing every single job actually required, so the long term impact of that is unemployment.
They need to just let it be recreational, decriminalize it. It's a plant for crying out loud. It's a plant, it grows from the ground just like a mango would, just like a guava would, just like a pineapple would. Even spinach has its own nutrients in its own right. What makes them different from other plants? It's an herb, just let it do what it’s supposed to do.
