Jangle and Marijuana

[Historian]

Jangle: In one of your responses in the American Airlines thread below, I notice that a recommendation you made for Jamaica's economic growth was “legalizing…. God’s gift to Jamaica, the good sensimilla.”

You normally make a great deal of sense with your posted comments, and I always make an effort to read whatever you post. As such, I can only assume that your suggestion for the legalization of marijuana is either a comment made in jest or else a cynical statement! Please tell me that I am correct!


The last time I checked, Jamaica had enough social problems without adding to our misery with your suggestion!

[Sir X]

Whats wrong with legalising ganja?

[Jangle]

This is one of the reasons why I love this forum, because it allows us to express our views and opinions freely. There are a number of times when I read my fellow forumites' posts and disagree but refrain from jumping in, and I also enjoy the healthy debates that go on here. Sometimes we have to agree to just disagree.

To answer your question Historian, no I am serious with my comments. I have made these comments a few times in the past and went about "trying" to explain my point of view. Not many forumites have taken up my comments to debate against it probably because they view me as a raving lunatic (lol) and just dismissed it. However, I am being very serious when I say that the Jamaican government should legalize and implement casino gambling, prostitution and marijuana. I don't wish to get into it right now, so I am asking you if it not too much of a trouble for you to check the forum archives to see if you can find my posts.

And don't worry, I am not thin-skinned if you call me an eediat (hehe), as long as it's not meant maliciously.

[HL]

a) X...do you smoke ganja?

b) As it relates to Jamaica, do you think ganga should be legal?


Thanks in advance

[Sir X]

I agree with all except the prostitution thing , Ganja yes , Gambling yes and my reasons are simple.

1) Ganja is in wide use in Jamaica to criminalize an individual and burden our court system with this nonsense is ridiculous.It is used for medicinal , culinary and social recreational use.What point is there to keep it illegal ,please dont come with it makes you crazy argument so does alcohol at a faster pace and it damages your kidneys and liver.

2) Its legal in some european countries , in zoned areas , Jamaica could follow said lead .free zone for Ganja for the tourist.As long as we dont export it , we havent violated any U.S law.

Legalise it tax it and put it back into education , like you do alcohol and cigarettes which causes more medicinal damage than ganja.

Horse racing is legal or certain forms of betting , these juke boxes and arcade centers are all over the place, again legalise and tax it.Invest in education.

Prostitution is a moral issue , I dont think anyone wants thier family member aspiring to be a Hooker , because its legal.

[Sir X]

No I dont smoke. Read below H.L .Plesae no more one line question , its like Mourinho and Wegner with me and you, you seem Vouyeeer !

Juss a ask man question and run ? Why the question H.L ?

[Historian]

And don't worry, I am not thin-skinned if you call me an eediat (hehe), as long as it's not meant maliciously.

Under no circumstance would i call you a derogatory name, Jangle, and I meant it when I say that I respect your posts!

I'm heading out now, unfortunately, but even so I am not in the mood to discuss the negative aspects of the legalization of ganja except to say this: throughout our post-independence history Jamaica's elected leaders have made an incredibly large number of bad decisions! We see the consequences today in the fact that, despite our wealth in human and natural resources, we lag behind (literally speaking) many other Caribbean countries, and in the garrison and other social malaise we're experiencing!

I am speaking from my heart when I say that I firmly believe any attempt to legalize ganja would be the biggest of all the mistakes that our leaders can make!

And I'm not merely talking about every single one of us becoming unwanted visitors in other regional countries! I am not merely speaking about increased stereotyping of our citizens as we try to enter North America or Europe! I am not merely speaking of the fall off in production (and our GDP) as a result of the lethargic effects of marijuana on workers! And I am not talking about travel restrictions which would be likely to be placed on our country by the USA and other sources of visitors!

There are other serious factots to consider, but I really have to go now, as I am already late!

By the way, I fully agree with you on the matter of the legalization of casino gambling! This should have done long ago, from back in the days when people like Howard Hamilton were advocating for this! In the case of prostitution being legalized, I do not have a personal opinion on this.

[Jangle]

I wonder if Karl can hook me up with a room down by Shady Pines, because I agree with everything you just said. My blood suga level low!

I can understand and respect your reservations about the prostitution issue, so I won't try to beat you into acceptance. However, my take on it is that it's something that is not going away. In fact, in recent years, the industry has expanded, and if not controlled , will get unmanagable. There are a lot of brothels and little sex shops in Jamaica right now parading as "massage parlours". The legal strip clubs have live sex performances, which are going unabated. I am wondering if public sex has been legalised now in Jamaica. Many tourists (whites), come to Jamaica for the marijuana and the sex with the "natives". That is an open secret. My take on it is why not bring the trade under some form of control and organisation and capitalise on it. We Jamaicans are very hypocritcal when it comes on to certain moral issues, but in my opinion, even the most distasteful things can be packaged and marketed to capture a market. All we need to do is to look to Las Vegas as a template to how these "morally" incorrect industries are packaged and marketed toearn big dollars.

[Jangle]

Hey I'll take your 1 and a half out of 3.

[Mosiah]

Horse racing is legal or certain forms of betting , these juke boxes and arcade centers are all over the place, again legalise and tax it.Invest in education.

Juke box and arcade centre? When last you come back a yuh yard? We have full fledged casinos bredren. Dem call it someting else, but is casino!

[Sir X]

And I'm not merely talking about every single one of us becoming unwanted visitors in other regional countries! I am not merely speaking about increased stereotyping of our citizens as we try to enter North America or Europe! I am not merely speaking of the fall off in production (and our GDP) as a result of the lethargic effects of marijuana on workers! And I am not talking about travel restrictions which would be likely to be placed on our country by the USA and other sources of visitors!



What are you smoking ?

[Bricktop]

Juke box and arcade centre? When last you come back a yuh yard? We have full fledged casinos bredren. Dem call it someting else, but is casino!

I have been to the "casino" run by Castro off Red Hills Rd they even provided you with your own "masseuse" if you so desired

[Historian]

What are you smoking ?

To answer your question, X, I do not smoke. And even if I did, I would not, under any circumstances, touch marijuana. I actually respect most of and obey all of the laws of my country, and until a specific law is changed, I will continue to obey it.

Now, you were the one requesting of HL (above) that he should not ask you any “one-line” question, but I note that you have now chosen to ignore your own request here.

I could write a lengthy rebuttal to the viewpoints on legalizing marijuana, but I just don’t see the point in doing so. As long as commonsense prevails in Jamaica (and I believe that it will continue to prevail), then marijuana will remain exactly as it should be -- illegal. So, I have no reason to waste time in writing anything whatsoever on marijuana!

However, I’ll seek now to explain one point I had made, and which might have caused some confusion. One of these realities is that marijuana use is frowned upon by every English-speaking Caribbean country, and already Jamaican immigrants into virtually all Caribbean islands are, unfortunately, stereotyped with a drug and/or crime label. With the legalization of marijuana in Jamaica, future Jamaican migrants to other regional societies would most likely meet such a level of harassment and suspicion from immigration officials and others that those Jamaicans would look back at these days as the “good old days.”

You see, X, you need to realize that Jamaica does not exist in isolation. It never ever did, and in this era of globalization (and globalization is real in every sense) the decisions we make can, more than ever before, have immense consequences. In other words, decisions made by our leaders will inevitably impact us all in one way or the other.

Of course, there are other points I could expand on, including the fact that the under-production that characterizes Jamaica’s economic climate would sink to new lows with a marijuana-smoking workforce. Lethargic workers do not a successful economy make!

But what's the use of my writing all of this? As I like to point out, we are all in one way or another responsible for Jamaica's social, political and economic failures! The sad thing is that most of us do not realize this!

[Mosiah]

...actually respect most of and obey all of the laws of my country, and until a specific law is changed, I will continue to obey it.

I guess you don't cuss badwud too, right? I don't respect or obey all the laws of my country. Some are archaic and stupid and as long as I know I am not going to go to prison over them, I'll break 'em with aplomb!

(All the kids should be in school right about now. )

...we are all in one way or another responsible for Jamaica's social, political and economic failures! The sad thing is that most of us do not realize this!

You and Karl, nuhbody wid dat! I am not in any way responsible for any such thing!!!

[Historian]

I guess you don't cuss badwud too, right? I don't respect or obey all the laws of my country. Some are archaic and stupid and as long as I know I am not going to go to prison over them, I'll break 'em with aplomb!

Well then, my point stands, and like other lawbreakers you are in some way responsible for our problems !

And by the way, I curse if I have to, and I drink rum and vodka and gin when I feel like doing so. No, Mosiah, I am not a saint, but on the other hand there are many things that I would not, under any circumstances, ever do! One of these is hitting or threatening to hit a woman (I've never done either in my entire life!).

You and Karl, nuhbody wid dat! I am not in any way responsible for any such thing!!!

But you just confessed that as long as you know you're "not going to prison over them, I'll break 'em with aplomb."