COMMENT | Dr Ganja’s freedom small step on slow road of progress

COMMENT | I was away from Malaysia for a few weeks recently and was happy to be woken up in Richmond, Virginia by a message from a lawyer back home.

She shared with me that her former client Amiruddin @ Nadarajan Abdullah, also known as Dr Ganja, had suddenly escaped the gallows after spending years on death row.

“I am certain that the article you wrote and the public campaign have made a difference in saving his life,” she said.

The lawyer, Samantha Chong, was referring to ‘All Up In Smoke’, a column I penned for The Star in September 2018 upon hearing of the death sentence imposed upon engineer Muhammad Lukman Mohamad for possessing, processing, and distributing cannabis oil.

Lukman was originally sentenced to death on Aug 30, 2018, under the Dangerous Drugs Act for possession of 3.1 litres of cannabis oil, 279g of compressed cannabis and 1.4kg of substances containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

I was irate at the injustice, considering...