Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jun 2005 Source: Jamaica Gleaner, The (Jamaica) Copyright: 2005 The Gleaner Company Limited Contact: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/feedback.html Website: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/493 Author: Miguel Lorne Note: Miguel Lorne is an attorney-at-law and a Rastafarian. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Jamaica Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rastafarian POLICY FUELS MUCH CONFUSION THIS IS blatant hypocrisy. When I travel the world ... and I say Jamaica, the next two words that come out is Rastafari and Bob Marley. Yet in Jamaica we (Rastafarians) are told that you cannot be made legitimate as long as you acknowledge the use of ganja. The whole policy causes confusion from the police angle and from the court angle. Many times when we as Rastafarians are keeping our Nyahbingi sessions, where in some instances we are celebrating events . we usually write to the police ... When we write telling them that we will be keeping our events, we get this strong support of the police and that strong support usually means that there is an understanding, not that ganja won't be used. It will be used but that there will be no arrest or intimidation for the use of ganja. It causes confusion with the police. The courts now also have a problem because this is the definition of ganja according to the so-called Dangerous Drugs Act. It says here (that) 'ganja includes all parts of the plant known as cannabis sativa, from which the resin has not been extracted and include any resin obtained from that plant'. It goes on, 'But does not include medicinal preparations made from that plant'. This is the definition of ganja in the Dangerous Drugs Act ... but it does not include medicinal preparation made from that plant. Political Action So rather than take a strong political action, the politicians have been meandering, have been trying to please the local people and to please the foreign masters. That is the root of the problem. How will the United States react if Jamaica was to decriminalise ganja? They have made it clear in some of the arguments that we see from time to time that they are against us decriminalising ganja. So all the many commissions, including the more recent Chevannes Commission that recommended decriminalisation of ganja, keep meeting that obstacle as to how will these political leaders behave in trying to appease the foreign masters ... - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake