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That sterile ganja refrain - déjà vu
Anthony Gomes
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Recently there have again been recommendations in the media for ganja to be decriminalised. It is likely that the protagonists are either unaware of the serious international and domestic health and other consequences of such a legal liberalisation, or just choose to ignore it.
To refresh the memory of the protagonists, the following summarises some of the international legal strictures which exist related to decriminalisation or legalisation of cannabis, or both, to which Jamaica is a signatory governing the control of narcotic substances. These are: The Single Narcotics Convention, the Convention of Psychotropic Substances and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. As stated by Michael Hylton, a previous attorney general: "Jamaica would be in breach of its treaty obligations if Parliament were to remove criminal sanctions with respect to these activities."
Smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system.
1/1
Previously, advice against decriminalising ganja was received through the US Embassy in Kingston. Should the government ignore such advice, Jamaica's certified status could be altered. Should that happen, a decrease or forfeiture of US financial or other assistance may result, which would seriously affect Jamaica's trade relations at a time when discussions are taking place with the United States Trade Representative for a Free Trade and Investment Agreement with the US.
Sixty-four per cent of Jamaica's exports are currently destined for the US market. Each year a report is presented to the US Congress on the state of Jamaica's compliance with UN conventions, to which Jamaica is also a signatory. In the event of a negative report, the US has the sovereign right to declassify the beneficiary territory and withdraw its voluntary aid. Colleague columnist Ron Sanders said in the Sunday Observer of October 31: "Jamaica would like to decriminalise personal use of cannabis but is afraid of US decertification". Indeed, and rightly so - and is likely to remain that way for the long term.
In fact, Jamaicans oppose decriminalising ganja, as reported in the only two polls so far conducted in 2001 by the Gleaner/Don Anderson poll and the Observer/Stone poll. The Gleaner poll asked: "Should personal use of ganja be legalised"? No, said 53.3 per cent. The Observer poll recorded the same sentiment, in that 48.3 per cent said that ganja should not be legalised, that is, decriminalised. This clearly indicates that the protagonists are a minority.
Other comments in support of decriminalising ganja are also included in Sanders' article. "At the bottom line, marijuana should be brought into the legal system of regulation and control and education and taxation. If it were to happen, the gang warfare, the spread of illegal weapons, the number of young people in jails would be reduced in Caribbean countries." Such a benign outlook is unlikely to succeed as long as cocaine remains the principal drug traded in the region. He continues: "Every serious and independent study that has examined the matter of decriminalising marijuana has recommended that it be decriminalised." A sweeping claim, as there are also numerous studies which explain the health hazards and behavioural aberrations that result from cannabis use.
Ganja has recently developed into "skunk" reported to be 15 times stronger than cannabis in earlier times. The UK's NHS National Treatment Agency reported the number of young people in treatment almost doubled from about 5000 in 2005 to 9600 in 2006, and 13,000 adults were also treated. "The skunk smoked by the majority of young Britons bears no relation to traditional cannabis resin, with a 25-fold increase in the amount of the main psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), typically found in the earlier 1990s. New research being published in this week's Lancet will show how cannabis is more dangerous than LSD and ecstasy" (The Independent on Sunday, March 18, 2007). The newspaper has since reversed its landmark campaign for cannabis use to be decriminalised.
The US National Drug Control Policy reports: "Smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system. It impairs learning and interferes with memory, perception and judgement. Smoked marijuana contains cancer-causing compounds and has been implicated in a high percentage of automobile crashes and workplace accidents." Abundant evidence is available to support these harmful effects of smoked ganja. The US Federal Supreme Court has confirmed: "Marijuana remains in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act because it has a high potential for abuse, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and no currently accepted medical value". The British Medical Association shares a similar opinion.
Nearer home, doctors at the University Hospital of the West Indies found, after a three-month study of trauma victims, that ganja was the most prevalent substance found in their bodies, occurring in 50 per cent of victims of road crashes and 55 per cent of victims of violence-related injuries. By comparison, alcohol was found in 43 per cent of crash victims and 27 per cent of violence-related injury cases. The study was published in the West Indian Medical Journal of December 1999.
The belief that the use of ganja would decline after being decriminatised is not supported by recent numbers furnished by the National Council on Drug Abuse. Drug abuse among 11- to 19-year-olds in a 2006 survey, shows that alcohol accounted for 71 per cent of abusers and 24 per cent in the case of ganja. This suggests that alcohol is the most abused drug because it is legal and readily available, as opposed to ganja that is still subject to criminal sanctions.
The pro-ganja lobby remains a minority, whose reasons for wanting decriminalisation of ganja is self-serving and not in the national interest. It is said: "We have more degrees, but less common sense, more knowledge but less judgement." That is certainly true when considering the issue of dangerous illegal drugs.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz16rQmSMgP
Anthony Gomes
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Recently there have again been recommendations in the media for ganja to be decriminalised. It is likely that the protagonists are either unaware of the serious international and domestic health and other consequences of such a legal liberalisation, or just choose to ignore it.
To refresh the memory of the protagonists, the following summarises some of the international legal strictures which exist related to decriminalisation or legalisation of cannabis, or both, to which Jamaica is a signatory governing the control of narcotic substances. These are: The Single Narcotics Convention, the Convention of Psychotropic Substances and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. As stated by Michael Hylton, a previous attorney general: "Jamaica would be in breach of its treaty obligations if Parliament were to remove criminal sanctions with respect to these activities."
Smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system.
1/1
Previously, advice against decriminalising ganja was received through the US Embassy in Kingston. Should the government ignore such advice, Jamaica's certified status could be altered. Should that happen, a decrease or forfeiture of US financial or other assistance may result, which would seriously affect Jamaica's trade relations at a time when discussions are taking place with the United States Trade Representative for a Free Trade and Investment Agreement with the US.
Sixty-four per cent of Jamaica's exports are currently destined for the US market. Each year a report is presented to the US Congress on the state of Jamaica's compliance with UN conventions, to which Jamaica is also a signatory. In the event of a negative report, the US has the sovereign right to declassify the beneficiary territory and withdraw its voluntary aid. Colleague columnist Ron Sanders said in the Sunday Observer of October 31: "Jamaica would like to decriminalise personal use of cannabis but is afraid of US decertification". Indeed, and rightly so - and is likely to remain that way for the long term.
In fact, Jamaicans oppose decriminalising ganja, as reported in the only two polls so far conducted in 2001 by the Gleaner/Don Anderson poll and the Observer/Stone poll. The Gleaner poll asked: "Should personal use of ganja be legalised"? No, said 53.3 per cent. The Observer poll recorded the same sentiment, in that 48.3 per cent said that ganja should not be legalised, that is, decriminalised. This clearly indicates that the protagonists are a minority.
Other comments in support of decriminalising ganja are also included in Sanders' article. "At the bottom line, marijuana should be brought into the legal system of regulation and control and education and taxation. If it were to happen, the gang warfare, the spread of illegal weapons, the number of young people in jails would be reduced in Caribbean countries." Such a benign outlook is unlikely to succeed as long as cocaine remains the principal drug traded in the region. He continues: "Every serious and independent study that has examined the matter of decriminalising marijuana has recommended that it be decriminalised." A sweeping claim, as there are also numerous studies which explain the health hazards and behavioural aberrations that result from cannabis use.
Ganja has recently developed into "skunk" reported to be 15 times stronger than cannabis in earlier times. The UK's NHS National Treatment Agency reported the number of young people in treatment almost doubled from about 5000 in 2005 to 9600 in 2006, and 13,000 adults were also treated. "The skunk smoked by the majority of young Britons bears no relation to traditional cannabis resin, with a 25-fold increase in the amount of the main psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), typically found in the earlier 1990s. New research being published in this week's Lancet will show how cannabis is more dangerous than LSD and ecstasy" (The Independent on Sunday, March 18, 2007). The newspaper has since reversed its landmark campaign for cannabis use to be decriminalised.
The US National Drug Control Policy reports: "Smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system. It impairs learning and interferes with memory, perception and judgement. Smoked marijuana contains cancer-causing compounds and has been implicated in a high percentage of automobile crashes and workplace accidents." Abundant evidence is available to support these harmful effects of smoked ganja. The US Federal Supreme Court has confirmed: "Marijuana remains in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act because it has a high potential for abuse, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and no currently accepted medical value". The British Medical Association shares a similar opinion.
Nearer home, doctors at the University Hospital of the West Indies found, after a three-month study of trauma victims, that ganja was the most prevalent substance found in their bodies, occurring in 50 per cent of victims of road crashes and 55 per cent of victims of violence-related injuries. By comparison, alcohol was found in 43 per cent of crash victims and 27 per cent of violence-related injury cases. The study was published in the West Indian Medical Journal of December 1999.
The belief that the use of ganja would decline after being decriminatised is not supported by recent numbers furnished by the National Council on Drug Abuse. Drug abuse among 11- to 19-year-olds in a 2006 survey, shows that alcohol accounted for 71 per cent of abusers and 24 per cent in the case of ganja. This suggests that alcohol is the most abused drug because it is legal and readily available, as opposed to ganja that is still subject to criminal sanctions.
The pro-ganja lobby remains a minority, whose reasons for wanting decriminalisation of ganja is self-serving and not in the national interest. It is said: "We have more degrees, but less common sense, more knowledge but less judgement." That is certainly true when considering the issue of dangerous illegal drugs.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz16rQmSMgP
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