Legalise cannabis, Jamaica

[Lazie]

Monday, August 10, 2009
Dear Editor,
I agree with the article about legalisation of cannabis. Yes, Jamaica should legalise. Why allow the USA to dictate cannabis policies to you?
Imagine the boost to tourism. Imagine herb smokers being on the same side as the police and imagine how legalisation would take the business away from criminals and put it into the hands of legitimate business and the product being taxed and that money put into education, better schools with more resources for teachers, etc.

Science is showing that cannabis is actually good for our bodies. Smoking it is not so good, but it can be eaten or vaporised.
I am fighting to have cannabis legalised in my country, Canada. If you are interested in truth go to www.norml.org http://www.norml.org and www.leap.cc http://www.leap.cc.

Brian Kerr
159 Byng Ave
Scarborough Ont
Canada M1L 3P3

[Lazie]

WAs this dude high when he wrote this letter?

[Bricktop]

WAs this dude high when he wrote this letter?

Sugar high?

[Hortical]

Ganja should remain legal, and as a matter of fact Parliament should severely increase the penalties for possession of small amounts of this mind altering drug. Mandatory minimum sentences that have worked well in locking up uneducated low-income black men in America should be contemplated in Jamaica.

[Historian]

Nonsense Letter!

Dear Editor,
I agree with the article about legalisation of cannabis. Yes, Jamaica should legalise. Why allow the USA to dictate cannabis policies to you?
Imagine the boost to tourism. Imagine herb smokers being on the same side as the police and imagine how legalisation would take the business away from criminals and put it into the hands of legitimate business and the product being taxed and that money put into education, better schools with more resources for teachers, etc.

I understand the desirability of newspapers in democratic societies to publish letters that reflect a wide cross-section of views, but my goodness, does it mean that ALL letters have to be published?! I notice also that the writer penned his letter not from a vulnerable Third World state like Jamaica, but rather, from a G-7 country, Canada, with all the economic and political security that that brings.

Here (below) is a portion of a comment that I typed earlier this morning and posted in another thread. It might be worth posting it again here as a partial response to the letter. My response will be only to the portion that I have highlighted in red, as I am not going to waste time in discussing the entire nonsensical proposals.

If, say, a Group of 7 (G7) country such as Japan, Germany or the USA legalizes marijuana, the world will blink rapidly in surprise and then life will go on as usual. There will be no fallout, as which country is going to go beyond mere diplomacy and chatter in reprimanding any of these economic powers? There is no question that it will be business as usual following legalization by any one of the countries mentioned above.

In contrast, the day when a poverty-ridden, underdeveloped country like Jamaica legalizes marijuana will be the day when not even the IMF will be able to help us out of our misery!! The economic backlash (sanctions) will be hitting us left, right and center, and years from now our analysts will be left pondering the question of which did more to destroy Jamaica, the economic sanctions or the travel advisories posted on tourism web sites and in travel agencies?

This is to be expected, as no powerful country, anxious to protect its citizens in the ongoing drug war, is going to sit by idly and allow an usurper nation like Jamaica to do more “damage” to their efforts to fight the drug trade!!


Jamaica’s drug treaties, signed by our government(s), are not bilateral treaties! They are all multilateral treaties.

And I’m focusing here only on the politically related economic repercussions. The socio-economic repercussions from “high” and lethargic workers in a society where massive underproduction is already a characteristic feature of its economic milieu will be something that I don’t even want to contemplate.

[Gamma]

like a moth to a flame....

[Islandman]

Look like him nuh know how many killers smoke weed before they go on a murderous rampage eh?

[Bricktop]

Look like him nuh know how many killers smoke weed before they go on a murderous rampage eh?

[Historian]

Check Berlin

like a moth to a flame....

Gamma: you will no doubt recall me stating on this forum that my most consistent theme has been that “Jamaica’s greatest enemies are found within” or “Jamaica’s greatest enemies are us”.

Well, guess what? Check what’s happening in Berlin right now. After you’ve finished doing that, check what’s been happening in Jamaica since late 1962, and then balance that against the weed proposals being made, not by foreigners, but by Jamaicans.

Nuff said.

[Gamma]

yuh mek some quantum leaps there my friend...firstly it is not just jamaicans advocating for cannabis to be legalised this is worldwide as you have noted and as such it is not on all fours with the point you are making. e.g. i am a jamaican advocating for it to be legal but i do not think that i am exhibiting any belrin or WICB/WIPA behaviour...i could be wrong though and am open to correction.

with the other stuff i think you are on point...nice try in any event!