I AM currently in Canada visiting my extended family in Vancouver for the wedding of a much-loved younger cousin. Today cannabis gets the green light, as it were, across the country.

The debate surrounding the legalisation of dope has, as you might expect, been a colourful one.

I don’t have any profound feelings on this issue either way although I suppose I remain fearful about the effects cannabis has on the mental health of young people who take it from an early age.

One tale however, that caught my imagination attests to the unfailing ability of football to settle arguments as well as unite continents. It concerns the large groups of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants working on a “grow-up” cannabis facility in British Columbia. I only have one source for this tale (although a good one) and thus I would urge a degree of caution in treating it as entirely factual.

It seems that the Mexicans and the Guatemalans don’t exactly get along with each other and that this was causing a degree of tension in their cannabis-growing place of work.

It was also adversely affecting rates of production.

There was only one thing for it: an international football match between both countries to settle the issue.

The match was held in a secret location at night and I’m told that it was a competitive affair. Eventually, the Mexicans won narrowly and thus all Mexican workers were permitted to stay on the site. The Guatemalans were forced to gather their belongings and move to another facility. It may seem unsophisticated and troubling even. But unlike some of the employment practices which will be permitted to run in the UK following Brexit it was civilised and no-one was forced out of a job.

I’m also told that the Mexicans deployed a lot of high balls; the Guatemalans made a hash of their clearances and that the game was played in a very relaxed atmosphere. Both teams tucked into Mars Bars for their half-time and full-time refreshments.

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