Tweet
https://www.insurancejournal.com/new.../03/485190.htm
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...rticle/2676999
Chevannes:Ganja report 2001,way before his time
According to Dr Horace Chang, from a professional point of view "I don't see the risk involved in the use of ganja justifies it being made an illegal drug." He reminded the Commission that from as early as the 1970s a youth organisation he had established within the JLP called for decriminalisation. This position was taken to Parliament by Dr Percy Broderick, and resulted in the setting up of a Joint Select Committee of the House and Senate. Nothing came of it, however, so "we have kind of come full circle twenty-three years later".
The medical problem with ganja, as far as he saw, was ganja psychosis, which affected no more than 0.5% of users. Most legal drugs had side effects, anyhow, often more serious and far-reaching than ganja. It was better, he felt, to educate around the risks than to ban wholesale a substance that was quite clearly cultural.
He raised what he saw as a far greater problem, that of cocaine, and shared with us his opinion that for the amount of cocaine seemingly passing through Jamaica, the number of persons addicted ought to have been greater. That it was not he attributed to ganja.
"Culturally the strongest opponents [of cocaine] I find at the street level and in our poorer socio-economic group are people who actually use ganja. I find [they] just take a position that the `white lady' will ensnare them". In other words, the culture around ganja functions as a buffer against the spread of cocaine.
https://www.cannabis-med.org/science/Jamaica.htm
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...rticle/2676999
Chevannes:Ganja report 2001,way before his time
According to Dr Horace Chang, from a professional point of view "I don't see the risk involved in the use of ganja justifies it being made an illegal drug." He reminded the Commission that from as early as the 1970s a youth organisation he had established within the JLP called for decriminalisation. This position was taken to Parliament by Dr Percy Broderick, and resulted in the setting up of a Joint Select Committee of the House and Senate. Nothing came of it, however, so "we have kind of come full circle twenty-three years later".
The medical problem with ganja, as far as he saw, was ganja psychosis, which affected no more than 0.5% of users. Most legal drugs had side effects, anyhow, often more serious and far-reaching than ganja. It was better, he felt, to educate around the risks than to ban wholesale a substance that was quite clearly cultural.
He raised what he saw as a far greater problem, that of cocaine, and shared with us his opinion that for the amount of cocaine seemingly passing through Jamaica, the number of persons addicted ought to have been greater. That it was not he attributed to ganja.
"Culturally the strongest opponents [of cocaine] I find at the street level and in our poorer socio-economic group are people who actually use ganja. I find [they] just take a position that the `white lady' will ensnare them". In other words, the culture around ganja functions as a buffer against the spread of cocaine.
https://www.cannabis-med.org/science/Jamaica.htm
Comment