Jamaica's deep social and economic crisis due to crime, violence and natural disasters urgently requires us to "put our noses to the grindstone, and shoulders to the wheel" to extricate our beloved country from the iron grip of adversity. There is, however, a huge waste of intellectual energy that should be engaged in the national recovery effort, particularly in the field of education, instead of promoting the low-level priority issue of decriminalising ganja. In recent forums and publications, it was asserted that "the people" want ganja to be decriminalised. This oft-repeated statement is misleading, as it flies in the face of the two national polls whose data stand until new polls are conducted. The Gleaner Don Anderson Poll of August 14 - 28, 2001 reported 53.3 per cent against legalisation; also the Observer Stone Poll of August 26 - 27, 2001 reported a majority of 48.3 per cent against legalisation that includes decriminalisation. [continues 858 words]
The Editor, Sir: Kindly grant me space in your newspaper to say what I know about corruption in the police force. I have been a cop for 36 years and I am not a corrupt cop. However, from experience I know many cops are corrupt in one way or the other. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, some are at 1, some 3, some 7 and some 9 on the corruption scale. However, corruption is nothing new in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. As far as I know, corruption has been a part of the operation of the Constabulary at all levels and in many things from promotion to transfers. Persons due promotion are bypassed for favourites who are corrupt. Some corrupt persons are now out of the force but that does not matter because their bank books are fat and their yearly earnings are in the millions. [continues 408 words]
CERTAINLY THERE is no controversy over whether or not marijuana leads to a psychosis. That's clear as I mop up the other end of the problem at the Detox Unit. Just to share some data with you, we have ... the only adolescent drug abuse clinic in this country which I started in January last year. When we analysed the data for last year, 100 per cent were using marijuana, two-thirds (were) using alcohol and one client (was) using cocaine. This is in the age range of 10 to 18. [continues 355 words]
THIS IS a political issue. This is not a controversial issue. The issues are very clear ... In some instances, it is very useful (and) in some instances that I have seen as a physician, it is harmful. It really doesn't matter whether it is harmful or not harmful or for us to get into any medical discussion about the nature of its harmful effect. What we do know is that this particular substance is illegal and there are many other substances that are used that are much more harmful than it is that are legal ... It is a contradiction where you have substances which are much more harmful than anything else in the world - two, tobacco and alcohol ... Those are legal but this (cannabis sativa) is illegal. [continues 423 words]
THE DECRIMINALISATION or legalisation of ganja is a matter of Government policy. Government policy is defined as what Government chooses to do or chooses not to do. It is a process that is defined by interest articulation and interest aggregation. Some of this interest is local, some is national and some international. Now, what we are seeing here is perhaps a significant number of opinions that seem to be saying to Government that we need to revisit the whole question of the legalisation of ganja but there are pros and there are cons in legalising the drug and there are constitutional considerations. This issue has been raised time and time again. [continues 142 words]
I AM now calling on Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to follow through on the democratic process and to implement the recommendations of the Chevannes Commission. In a globalised world, Jamaica's natural competitive advantages are our music and culture, our tourism assets located close to the primary markets of the world, organic agriculture and niche market in agriculture of which organic ganja, in terms of a recreational, medicinal and spiritual herb, will bring tremendous benefits to Jamaica. Forty per cent of Jamaicans break the law every day. What type of respect is that? There is a disconnect between our laws and the practices of our people and they need to be brought in line. There are countries now which have licensed medicinal cannabis. [continues 305 words]
THIS IS blatant hypocrisy. When I travel the world ... and I say Jamaica, the next two words that come out is Rastafari and Bob Marley. Yet in Jamaica we (Rastafarians) are told that you cannot be made legitimate as long as you acknowledge the use of ganja. The whole policy causes confusion from the police angle and from the court angle. Many times when we as Rastafarians are keeping our Nyahbingi sessions, where in some instances we are celebrating events . we usually write to the police ... When we write telling them that we will be keeping our events, we get this strong support of the police and that strong support usually means that there is an understanding, not that ganja won't be used. It will be used but that there will be no arrest or intimidation for the use of ganja. [continues 205 words]
ADDICTION ALERT, now called RISE, operates a daytime telephone lifeline service, and data gathered between January 2003 and April 2005 demonstrate the following: In 2003, a total of 216 calls were received from family members, mostly concerning their relatives' ganja abuse. Of this number, 71 of them were described as having symptoms associated with what is commonly referred to as 'ganja-induced psychosis', that is, exhibiting symptoms such as hearing voices, talking to themselves, hallucinating, seeing things that aren't there, personality change, staring into space, isolating (oneself) or becoming aggressive. Of these 71 persons, 67 were males. Approximately 39 of 71 cases were under age 25, including 12 teenagers. [continues 449 words]
THE EDITOR, Sir: KUDOS TO The Gleaner for its series on the debate about ganja. It reported on the rational examination by the National Commission on Ganja of the risks associated with the moderate use of ganja and the commission's support for decriminalising its use by adults ('Ganja is not entirely safe', on May 18). As noted by the National Commission on Ganja and others, cannabis' relative risks to the user, most of which may be mitigated by consuming it in ways other than smoking, do not support the practice of criminalising those adults who possess and use ganja in small quantities. In addition, the consequences of a criminal conviction for the simple possession of a minor amount of cannabis for personal use are disproportionate to any potential harms associated with the behaviour. [continues 84 words]
I'M NOT a Rasta any more than I'm into any religion, but I think they're right about many things such as the importance of ital food, free from chemical fertilizer and pesticides, and I think they're right about ganja. Why does 'Babylon' hate and fear ganga so much? Because it leads to violence? No, everybody knows ganga cools you out. Because it's injurious to health? No, everybody knows it is not as harmful as alcohol or cigarettes. Because it puts tax-free cash into poor people's pockets? Maybe, but surely Omar, the lover of reggae music and devotee of Tosh and Marley, to say nothing of being a member of Parliament for an inner-city constituency, would let that one go. [continues 699 words]
Gov't Chided for Failure to Act on Ganja Recommendations THE GOVERNMENT was on Wednesday chided for its delay in implementing recommendations from the Ganja Commission even as more persons called for decriminalisation of the drug as a means of boosting the country's flagging economy. "Rather than taking strong political action, politicians have been meandering, trying to please the local people and trying to please foreign masters," said attorney-at-law and rastafarian, Miguel Lorne during a Gleaner Editors' Forum on the 'Ganja Debate' Wednesday night at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. [continues 353 words]
TWO LOCAL substance abuse treatment officials are calling for the establishment of a local ganja research academy and more comprehensive treatment programmes for persons, especially adolescents, who are battling addiction. The call comes against the background of the continuing debate on the decriminalisation of ganja. Speaking at Wednesday's Editors' Forum on the Ganja Debate, Dr. Winston De La Haye, head of the detoxification unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) said scarce resources means that only 20 per cent of the 190,000 local persons who need treatment are receiving it. [continues 247 words]
GANJA IS the Indian word for cannabis, known also as marijuana, pot, weed and by over 200 other slang terms. It is derived from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa which has been known and used by mankind for centuries. It was introduced into Jamaica by East Indians about 1845. Ganja contains 400 known chemical substances, of these 400 chemicals only 70 are unique to the cannabis plant. These 70 chemicals are referred to as cannabinoids. Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinoids (THC) is the main active ingredient in ganja. [continues 644 words]
The Editor, Sir: I was pleased to read David Murray, the paid U.S. government subsidised prohibition propagandist (US Again Dismisses Lax Ganja Talks, April 27, 2005) get His 'statements rebuffed'. Since Murray is part of the 'Christian White House', it is also important to know where the Bible stands on the cannabis issue, because of the brainwashing effects of discredited governments saying cannabis is evil. It is biblically correct to re-legalize cannabis (known as kaneh bosm, before the King James Version). [continues 136 words]
THE UNITED States Government is maintaining its opposition to decriminalising the use of marijuana as is being contemplated in Jamaica. According to David Murray, the special assistant to the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), this approach is a prescription for failure, which will only make the drug problems more complicated. He noted that the evidence against the proposal to decriminalise the personal use of ganja is now more convincing, citing the United Kingdom as one example where the proposal has failed. [continues 287 words]
The Agenda Two legislative proposals to step up the fight against money laundering have sparked concerns in some quarters that they will give the Government too much power to peek at private financial dealings, possibly endangering personal and civil liberties. Opposition spokesman on finance Audley Shaw acknowledged there are dangers posed by money laundering, but the redress should not be at the expense of "rights and freedoms under our constitution". Jamaica Bar Association president Arlene Harrison worried that "the duty and obligation" outlined in the proposed legislation could undermine the relationship of "trust and confidence" between lawyer and client. [continues 1000 words]
A British Customs security expert says that security at Jamaica's two international airports - Manley in Kingston and Sangster in Montego Bay - are now up to international standards, lessening the ability of drug smugglers to move contraband through them. Moreover, according to John Whyte, the head of UK Customs' London and National Detection Region, there is a clear will by the Jamaican authorities to get things right. Whyte was in Jamaica last week for a series of meetings with local officials on deepening anti-narcotics cooperation between Jamaica and Britain, especially under a project called Operation Airbridge. [continues 490 words]
FACED with the dangerous link between illicit drug consumption and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Caribbean Community governments are now challenged to also intensify efforts to deal with overcrowded prisons where significant percentages of inmates are young people and women convicted for using or running marijuana and cocaine. How to help reduce the tremendous harm that illicit drugs inflict on family life and the social and economic consequences to society, with a shift from traditional punitive penal custody that is an increasing burden to state resources, requires a fresh look at alternative policies and programmes, according to penal reform and human rights specialists and professionals of regional and international institutions and agencies. [continues 860 words]
Cocaine, Three Go-Fast Boats Seized - 7 Colombians among 9 Men Arrested Just over two weeks after it was launched with American and British endorsement, Operation Kingfish, the Jamaican Government's latest counter-narcotics and gang-busting task force, put a big dent in the illegal drug trade with the seizure of almost Ja 4 billion dollars worth of cocaine headed for the US through Jamaica. Nine men, seven of them Colombians, are now in US custody in connection with the seizure made in the north western Caribbean Sea between Sunday and Wednesday, and three go-fast boats have been confiscated. The police, up to last night, were unable to say where the other two men were from. [continues 334 words]
Caricom Needs A Regional Crime Plan RATHER than squabble over timing and conditionalities for "full engagement" with the interim Haitian regime, Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders should quickly decide on a revised agenda for the upcoming special summit in Port-of-Spain. This revised agenda must bring to the fore, new ways of combating the terrifying crime problem plaguing several member states, including Jamaica. The Community leaders have approximately nine weeks before the proposed November special summit to develop new ideas and form new attitudes for a comprehensive collective review of policies and strategies to combat serious crimes, and minimise the threats to security. [continues 862 words]
JAMAICA'S ARMY chief has issued a sobering warning against complacency in the face of a growing threat to the stability of the country, posed by narco-traffickers and gun smugglers. The country's difficulties are magnified by its geographical location, in close proximity to Haiti and Colombia, according to Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force. "When you look at other countries bordering the area you see the ease with which transnational issues can take place. Couple all of what is taking place in the region with our local criminal enterprises and you will see that we have many criminal enterprises who would be willing allies of these external groups," he told The Sunday Gleaner. [continues 578 words]
The Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, has reiterated the army's commitment to working with the police to stamp out the drug trade and to play its part in addressing other crime-fighting issues. Excerpts of the interview conducted by Earl Moxam are published below. EM: Chief of Staff, what's your own perception of the crime problem? HL: I have to start with a disclaimer, in that the matter of dealing with crime and other issues associated with that are matters for the police. [continues 2290 words]
I am told by residents that Runaway Bay is like a ghost town and construction has virtually stopped in Montego Bay. The size of the drug and money laundering trade in Jamaica is immense. A source in the financial sector told me that a cambio in a north coast town which was recently shutdown had an annual turnover of US$4 billion. I believe that naturally-occurring and mind-altering drugs and narcotics should be legalised. They ought to be regulated and sold like alcohol. There is no power on earth that can prevent man wanting to and achieving a state of altered consciousness by ingesting something or other. The oldest alcohol known to man was mead (made from honey). Ancient Egyptians got drunk on it, and there is no evidence to suggest it affected the building of the pyramids one way or another. Or notably anything else for that matter. [continues 902 words]
The Joint Select Committee which considered the recommendations of the National Commission on Ganja has recommended that the laws be amended to allow Rastafarians to use small quantities of ganja for "sacramental purposes". But the committee acknowleged that implementing the recommendation could present a challenge, "for under existing international conventions, as signed by the Government of Jamaica, it was not possible to decriminalise the use of ganja for sacramental purposes". In a companion recommendation, it suggested that Jamaica begins an international campaign to revise the International Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) so as to address the local situation with respect to the religious use of the ganja plant, Cannabis Sativa. [continues 503 words]
THE INTERNATIONAL drug trade, fuelled mainly by Colombian drug lords, represents a clear threat to the stability of the Jamaican state, says National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips. This "Colombianisation" of Jamaica, was cited by the United States State Department in its latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, claiming that Colombian drug dealers "are known to have established command and control centres in Jamaica to direct their illicit operations." Far from taking issue with this assessment, Dr. Phillips, in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, described the narcotics trade as "the tap root" of the crime problem in Jamaica. [continues 485 words]
The weed'- marijuana, ganja, herb, scientifically, 'Cannabus Sativa' has been a debatable topic for years. In Jamaica, it is a criminal offence to be found in possession of ganja. That's the law, but why is it so? People in the society need to be educated about the negative effects of the herb, but also the positive attributes. This is not so in most cases, as information sources worldwide have excelled in perfecting and polishing the negatives but have failed miserably to highlight the many positives. [continues 227 words]
THE UNITED States Government has again given Jamaica a passing grade for its counter-narcotics efforts but said that "corruption continues to undermine law enforcement and judicial efforts against drug-related crime and is a major barrier to more effective counter-narcotics actions." The evaluation is made in the U.S. Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), March 2004, which was published on Monday by the department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. But while acknowledging steps the Jamaican Government had taken "to protect itself against drug trafficking and other types of organised crime", it said the Government "needs to intensify its law enforcement efforts and enhance international co-operation." [continues 535 words]
JAMAICA HAS announced the creation of a Regional Information and Intelligence Sharing Network (RIISN), a United Kingdom-backed initiative which falls within a raft of measures to tackle drug trafficking and serious external threats to Caribbean countries. The agency, according to National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips, will assist Jamaica and other Caribbean countries to develop their tactical and strategic intelligence-gathering capabilities. The network is expected to become operational before the end of the year, said Dr. Phillips, who was also speaking in his capacity as chair of CARICOM's Ministerial Sub-committee for Resource Mobilisation for Crime and Security. He made the announcement at a joint press conference with Bill Rammell, the British Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Common-wealth Office, at the Hilton Kingston Hotel. [continues 366 words]
UNITED STATES President George W. Bush has listed Jamaica among 24 countries identified as chiefly responsible for the producing and trans-shipping of illicit drugs into the U.S. The other Caribbean nations making the list were Bahamas, Haiti and The Dominican Republic. Twenty-four nations make up what is called the 'Majors List'. In his annual report to Congress, released yesterday by the U.S. Embassy here in Kingston, Mr. Bush said the U.S. and Canada were the countries mainly targeted by the international drug barons. [continues 189 words]
The parliamentary committee that was given the job of reviewing the report of the National Commission on Ganja has recommended the acceptance of its proposal that the personal use of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalised. This matter will now go the full House for debate and most likely a conscience vote before there is any amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act, to reflect this change. We suspect, though, that the recommendation, having been carried by the joint select committee, will find an easier passage in the House, although this is by no means certain in a situation where the party whips are not called on to impose voting discipline. We nonetheless sense that the mood in Jamaica is tolerant towards the proposed change. [continues 501 words]
THE Joint Select Committee examining the report of the National Commission on Ganja has recommended there be no criminal charge for use of the drug in small quantities, by adults in private, and that the law be amended to reflect the changes. However, the committee, which had its final meeting at Gordon House on Tuesday, insisted that the use of marijuana in public spaces remains illegal, and that children especially should be discouraged from using the drug. Also, the use of marijuana as a sacrament in religious rites was not endorsed by the committee as both government and opposition members felt that such use was not in a private space and could therefore violate the rights of others who could be exposed to second-hand smoke. [continues 62 words]
THE PARLIAMENTARY Committee considering the report of the National Commission on Ganja agreed yesterday to support the decriminalisation of ganja for private personal use. There was only one dissenting voice, that of Opposition Senator Shirley Williams. The Ganja Commission, headed by Professor Barry Chevannes, had recommended that the private, personal use of ganja be decriminalised. This recommendation was readily embraced by most members of the parliamentary committee from the outset, but they were later put on the defensive by Solicitor-General Michael Hylton who cautioned that decriminalisation would put Jamaica in conflict with its international treaty obligations on narcotics control. [continues 482 words]
Dear Editor, I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial, "A rational decision on marijuana, please" of December 12. Marijuana is a natural herb that has never been documented to kill a single person in the 5,000-year history of its use. If the United States government is concerned about Jamaica legalising or decriminalising marijuana, please tell them to mind their own business or to first criminalise tobacco. Tobacco is a mind-altering, highly-addictive drug that kills greater than 5.8 million people ever year. No Americans die from Jamaican marijuana, but the same cannot be said about Jamaicans dying from American tobacco products. If Jamaica is a free, independent and sovereign country, please just act like it and stop just proclaiming it. Kirk Muse 1741 S Clearview Ave Mesa, AZ 85208 [end]
A Legend Who Died At The Tender Age Of 36 Within walking distance from the official office of the Jamaican Prime Minister, lies the most visited site in Kingston Jamaica - the Bob Marley Museum. Located on Hope Road, the 15-year-old museum is one that touches the heart of fans all over the world. But fan or not, you would probably find the museum to be an inspiration as there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained about Mr. Marley, a man who brought reggae music to the world. [continues 1553 words]
PARLIAMENTARIANS supporting the decriminalisation of ganja earned little consolation from Solicitor General Michael Hylton's return Wednesday to respond to specific questions triggered by his warning in December against breaching international conventions. The solicitor general said that despite the fact that both ganja and wine could be regarded as religious sacraments, they were not treated equally under the law and, therefore, could not be equated in terms of the argument for decriminalisation. "Even assuming that ganja plants could be described as growing wild, and that Rastafarianism could be classified as a small, clearly determined group, Jamaica could possibly have opted to make a reservation concerning the use of ganja for religious purposes when the country became a party to the Convention on Psychotropic Drugs. Jamaica did not do so and, as a result, cannot now convincingly argue that the use of ganja by Rastafarians for religious purposes is permitted under that treaty," Hylton told a parliamentary committee. [continues 594 words]
"Weeds are not supposed to grow, but by degrees Some achieve a flower, although no one sees." - English poet Philip Larkin If you think ganja production is a growth industry" limited only to places like Jamaica, think again. Just last weekend, a police team drawn from several forces in the Canadian province of Ontario raided a former brewery about an hour's drive north of Toronto and uncovered the biggest ganja operation anyone has ever heard of. Acting on a tip, the police swooped down on the huge building, right adjacent to one of the busiest highways in Canada and found an extremely sophisticated operation they estimate could produce Cdn$100-million a year. The discovery shocked many people, especially the 100,000 citizens of the pleasant lakeside city of Barrie. Television and newspaper reports featured police pictures of row upon row of healthy plants growing under powerful lights. [continues 1048 words]
Dear Editor, There is absolutely no requirement in any of the international drug control treaties that personal possession of any drug be punished through criminal sanctions. The only requirement is that such possession be a violation of law. Decriminalisation equates to making possession a civil offence (punishable by fine only) versus a criminal offence (punishable by being jailed). If it were true that decriminalisation violated these treaties, then 12 states in the United States would already be in violation of these treaties for having already instituted decriminalisation of personal marijuana of possession. As would also be the nations of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Belgium, Germany, and Holland. [continues 66 words]
THE EDITOR, Sir: I WAS hoping that I would have found in the Report of the National Commission on Ganja, 2001, a serious and well-argued case to support the well-known and popular view that the use of ganja in small quantities should be decriminalised. However, after reading the Report, I have to conclude that the Commission, notwithstanding the hard work put into the project, missed a critical opportunity to lay the question to rest once and for all. The Report, unfortunately, suffers from a number of defects. This, I believe, was due to the fact that the Commission was overwhelmed: "the overwhelming majority of persons appearing before the Commission feel that ganja should be decriminalised". (p.16) The Commission seemed to have forgotten that the case had to be made, since the issue was a matter of changing the law. If the lawmakers were themselves sufficiently convinced that the law should be changed, they would have already brought the recommendation to the Parliament. The question at stake, then, is whether the Report makes the case. [continues 976 words]
Dear Editor, I note with interest, the remarks of the solicitor general as reported in your issue of December 11. It appears that Mr Hylton did not have the benefit of my published remarks concerning the decriminalisation of ganja in Jamaica (West Indian Law Journal, Vol 27, May 2002) in which I dealt with the US government policy and decriminalisation. Decriminalisation of ganja for personal use in private would in no way breach any of our international treaty obligations based on the interpretation of the treaties. [continues 59 words]
Dear Editor, It is time for the people of the world to stand up to the bully (US federal government) when it comes to the issues of marijuana (ganja). This is a plant with medical, spiritual, and religious purposes. Why does the bully pursue the ones that hold the plant, as if they were holding weapons of mass destruction? It is only a plant and has never hurt anyone. Wish I could say the same about the bully! Richard J Rawlings, Illinois Marijuana Party Bartonville, IL [end]
The following is an excerpt from the Gleaner Editors Forum held on November 27. Guests were Dr. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the U.S.-based Drug Policy Alliance, Paul Chang and Paul Burke, members of the local National Alliance for the Legalisation of Ganja: ON THE POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY OF LEGALISING GANJA, GIVEN JAMAICA'S CHRISTIAN CULTURE MR. BURKE: Legalisation is a big step, but you will recall in 1978 or 79 there was a Joint Select Committee chaired by Dr. Ken McNeill, and it actually recommended to Parliament that there should be no legal sanctions for two ounces of ganja for personal possession. As you know, we got caught up into the politics of the general election of 1980 and the Parliament never debated that recommendation, but there have been calls for it over the years and I have not heard the church in any strong concerted position. [continues 990 words]
Dear Editor, I refer to the recent article, "Decriminalisation of ganja could hurt Jamaica". To end the historically discredited policy of caging humans for using a plant, is the right thing to do. To resist doing the right thing because of blackmail is more harmful to Jamaica and sends the wrong message and example to youth. Perhaps Jamaica as a sovereign nation should influence US voters to make Dennis Kucinich America's next president, since he is proposing to decriminalise cannabis and regulate it like alcohol in the US which would influence policy pertaining to cannabis, worldwide. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
THE EDITOR, Sir: THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL'S concern that decriminalising ganja would place Jamaica in conflict with international anti-drug treaties ("No to Ganja," December 10, 2003) is unwarranted. In recent years, dozens of nations have replaced criminal penalties for minor drug crimes with "administrative sanctions" without running afoul of global treaties by calling on constitutional principles, or by arguing that strict enforcement of criminal prohibition was not in the public interest. The Jamaican National Commission on Ganja carefully examined this issue and concluded: "Decriminalising personal use while suppressing the sale and trafficking [of ganja] ... is nonetheless possible under the 1961 Single Convention Treaty, which does not explicitly prohibit use. ... Therefore, decriminalisation of possession for personal use and use itself does not breach the 1961 Single Convention." [continues 153 words]
Dear Editor, The Observer is to be congratulated for its sensible and level-headed editorial, "A rational decision on marijuana, please", of December 12. It is important to remember that decriminalisation of ganja has already been enacted in a dozen US states, including New York and California, as well as such nations as Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg, among others. None of these countries have been subjected to sanctions by the US government. And many of the US states that have decriminalised ganja actually have lower rates of use than the states that continue to arrest and jail users. [continues 74 words]
Dear Editor, On Wednesday, December 10, your paper quoted Solicitor-General Michael Hylton as saying that: "If ... the Dangerous Drugs Act is amended to decriminalise the private, personal use of marijuana in small quantities, Jamaica would, in all likelihood, be in breach of certain international obligations in respect of drug control." Perhaps he may then be able to state which international conventions the United Kingdom has breached when Home Secretary David Blunkett took exactly the same step earlier this year? Or has Mr Hilton simply not done enough research on the difference between "decriminalising" and "legalising"? J Khouri, Law Student London, UK [end]
Dear Editor, Solicitor General Michael Hylton is incorrect in his assertion that decriminalising ganja would place Jamaica in conflict with international anti-drug treaties ("Decriminalisation of ganja could hurt Jamaica," December 10, 2003). In truth, numerous countries - including Great Britain, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands - have significantly liberalised their marijuana laws in recent years without breaching international conventions, or facing US sanction. As concluded by the United States' Shafer Commission in 1972, "possession" in Article 36 of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs "refers not to possession for personal use, but to possession as a link to illicit trafficking". [continues 116 words]
We hear, and fully appreciate, the opinion tendered by Mr Hylton, the solicitor-general, that Jamaica would most likely be in breach of some international agreements if it were to move ahead with its plan to decriminalise the use of marijuana. According to Mr Hylton, another complicating factor -- and perhaps the most critical in a practical sense -- would be the likely American response if Jamaica were to go this route. Jamaica would possibly be held to be non-compliant in America's war on drugs and made ineligible for US aid. And US pressure need not end in the absence of direct US economic and other assistance. [continues 528 words]
Solicitor General Warns That Country Could Face Sanctions If Drug Allowed For Personal Use Solicitor General Michael Hylton yesterday warned parliamentarians studying the ganja issue that Jamaica would breach international obligations and face tough US sanctions, if the drug is decriminalised. Hylton told a meeting of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament studying the National Ganja Commission report, that although Parliament could pass amendments to remove the constitutional bar to decriminalisation it would, in all likelihood, breach international obligations in respect of drug control. [continues 834 words]
MONTEGO BAY (IPS) - "Traditionally people have had it, and put it in bottles with rum and used it for various ailments. Over the years, it got demonised by the United States," Freckleton told IPS. Called ganja in Jamaica, mention of marijuana, or cannabis, tends to conjure up images of hedonistic tourists smoking "weed" with easy-going Jamaicans.. The reality for thousands of Jamaicans has been far different, however. Possession of marijuana, even in the small amounts present in a ganja cigarette, popularly known as a spliff, is a criminal offence. The police every year drag hundreds of Jamaicans -- most of them poor young men -- before the courts, where they are fined sums as low as five U.S. dollars, but left with a criminal record. [continues 988 words]
SEVERAL SCHOOLS across the island have had to call on outside professional counsellors to deal with ganja-smoking and rum-drinking by children and those whose behaviour have been aggressive and disruptive. The Mico Care Centre in Kingston receives the bulk of the referrals, about 40 cases each week. However, while not willing to name the schools or areas these students are from, counsellors there say that they see routinely at least one case of a student abusing ganja. The referrals, they say, come from across the Corporate Area, St. Thomas and St. Catherine, from teachers, parents and guardians. [continues 836 words]
Inside Jamaica
