Smoking

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a drink at a cafe in the nearby Monte Urpinu park. While enjoying my beverage, a young couple, who appeared to be of high school age, took a seat at a neighbouring table, later joined by two others. Though I paid them little attention, I did observe that the girl was Black. I found myself appreciating how well Italians seem to mix with foreigners nowadays. Indeed, I recently noticed that a beachside cafe in Poetto employs several staff members from overseas. This level of integration is entirely new to me, as I had not observed such a development until now.

However, that is not what I set out to write about. 

Not long after the latter two teenagers arrived, I detected a highly familiar scent: cannabis. I recognised it immediately due to an experience last year in London, where I live, when a lady regularly visited our compound to smoke beneath a large tree. Intrigued by the strong odour, I only discovered what it was when a neighbour informed me that it was cannabis. He asked if the smell caused me any discomfort, offering to ask her to stop if it did. Although I assured him I was perfectly fine with it, being merely curious, the lady never returned. I suspect he must have told her not to smoke there regardless; poor lady.

Returning to the situation in Cagliari, I am quite surprised to witness young people smoking cannabis so openly in a public space during the day. I prefer not to speculate, but this is also a novel development here. Having travelled to Cagliari every year for holidays for the past sixteen years, I have never once seen people smoking cannabis in public. It makes me wonder whether this represents a positive or a negative trend, how these young people obtained access to it, and if some new regulation in Italy has prompted this behaviour.

This shift links to a broader worry I have regarding the young people I know here, who seem entirely uninterested in politics. They appear content to simply enjoy life, which ultimately leaves political power in the hands of the same elderly, unchanging group of people. I strongly wish to see the younger generation engage with politics and drive positive change; otherwise, we are left with little choice but to complain about the situation.