Jamaica
Pubdate: Tue, 04 Sep 2001
Source: Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Copyright: 2001 The Jamaica Observer Ltd,
Contact:  http://www.jamaicaobserver.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1127

ANTI-GANJA LAWS ARCHAIC, SAYS DOCTOR

Senior psychiatrist at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Dr 
Wendel Abel, feels that current laws prohibiting the use of ganja are 
archaic and have not done much to stem use of the drug which, he said, is 
increasing.

According to Abel, there is a 27 per cent prevalence rate for ganja which 
has increased over a 10-year period (1987-1997) from 19 per cent.

"Despite the harsh laws against ganja, the use of ganja has not decreased, 
and data shows that smoking of the drug has increased, and is on the 
increase," Abel told the fourth annual Mona Academic Conference at the 
University of the West Indies at the weekend.

He argued that while ganja causes harmful effects, it was not as much as 
tobacco and alcohol. However, he said that studies have shown that ganja 
usage can have adverse health risks, such as impairment of short-term 
memory, and affect reaction time, a problem that could prove dangerous for 
motorists in particular.

"One ganja spliff produces five times as many cancer-producing agents as 
opposed to cigarette smoke," Abel said, "and ganja smoking has been 
associated with small birth weight in pregnant women and premature death."

The doctor said, too, that there was a link between smoking ganja and 
mental health disorders and listed cannabis dependence, cannabis 
intoxication, cannabis-induced psychotic mental disorder and 
cannabis-induced anxiety disorder as some of the problems.

Citing a recent one-year study started in 1998 involving the Psychiatric 
Unit at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Abel said: "45 per cent of the 
males admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital for mental disorders had a 
ganja-related mental disorder."

Last month, the National Ganja Commission recommended the decriminalisation 
of ganja in Jamaica for personal and private use, as well as for religious 
purposes.

The recommendation prompted the United States government to warn that 
Jamaica could experience certification problems when Washington does its 
next narcotics review.

Yesterday, the Patriots, a group of young intellectuals affiliated to the 
ruling People's National Party (PNP), appealed to the government to be 
cautious when considering the recommendations of the Ganja Commission.

The group pointed to what it said was the possible local and international 
fallout from decriminalisation and said that the country cannot afford to 
ignore its obligations under international treaties.

"The country cannot afford to take the risk of attaining the dubious 
distinction of pariah status over such an issue," the Patriots said.

The commission was set up last November by Prime Minister P J Patterson and 
instructed to hear testimony, review literature and evaluate the research 
and then indicate what changes, if any, should be made to the country's 
laws in relation to ganja use.

It was also mandated to recommend diplomatic initiatives, security 
considerations and educational processes that should be undertaken along 
with any proposed changes.

Other recommendations made by the commission, headed by Professor Barry 
Chevannes, the dean of the social sciences faculty at the University of the 
West Indies, were for a public education programme targeting the youth to 
reduce demand for the drug; that the security forces increase their efforts 
of interdiction of large-scale cultivation of ganja and trafficking of all 
illegal drugs; and that the country, urgently, should seek diplomatic 
support for its position and influence the international community to 
re-examine the status of cannabis.
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MAP posted-by: Beth