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]
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]
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]
