Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jun 2013
Source: Jamaica Gleaner, The (Jamaica)
Copyright: 2013 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: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n284/a05.html

JAMAICA MUST RESIST AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON MARIJUANA LAWS

Regarding Dr Andre Haughton's June 19 op-ed, the global drug war is 
largely a war on marijuana. If health outcomes determined drug laws 
instead of Anglo-cultural norms, ganja would be legal.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose 
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. 
Marijuana can be harmful, but criminal records are inappropriate as 
health interventions are ineffective as deterrents.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current 
world record holder in citizens incarcerated. Here in the United 
States, police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in 
schools, and random drug testing have led to a loss of civil 
liberties, while failing to prevent marijuana use. The United States 
has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where 
marijuana is legal.

Failure has not stopped the United States government from using its 
superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the 
globe. The criminalisation of citizens who prefer marijuana to 
martinis has no basis in science. The short-term health effects of 
ganja are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of 
criminal records.

Jamaica should just say no to the American Inquisition.

ROBERT SHARPE

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