Pubdate: Mon, 23 Sep 2013
Source: Daily Nation (Barbados)
Copyright: 2013, Nation Publishing Co. Limited
Contact:  http://www.nationnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2249

THE GREAT GANJA DEBATE CONTINUES

IT IS NOT a new issue but one which we can no longer let dangle. From 
Kingston to Kingstown to Washington and Bridgetown, there is clearly 
momentum in the discussion on whether to decriminalize marijuana and 
what impact this will have on fighting illegal drugs in our region. 
It can best be described as the great ganja debate.

The issue of decriminalization of marijuana is a discussion which 
will create clear divisions; strong support for its usage or total 
opposition. It is one which not only the politicians must weigh in 
on, but the judiciary, and the scientific community which must give 
of their expert opinions based on evidence from well-documented 
research. Law enforcement officials will also need to speak again to 
the issue, based on their experiences and knowledge of what has 
become a lucrative but also violent business controlled by criminals 
whose actions can undermine a country. We will also want to hear from 
those in our health facilities and drug treatment centres of their 
experiences with marijuana users.

We are aware that the use of marijuana was commonplace in many 
countries before it was criminalized and deemed a dangerous drug. We 
also know that its usage, even if controversially so, for medicinal 
purposes, has been gaining support from leading researchers and 
doctors. Not so for purely recreational usage.

The proponents of open marijuana usage would perhaps denounce the 
continued criminalization of cannabis as discriminatory and often 
point to the dangers associated with smoking tobacco, excessive use 
of alcoholic beverages and abuse of prescription drugs. These are 
viewed as issues which should be of greater concern to the entire 
society than that of marijuana.

We in Barbados and indeed the wider Caribbean need to understand not 
only what is happening in terms of the debate but of the plans for 
the effective use and control of marijuana. We need to look to 
developments in North America, Israel and across Latin America, 
particularly Uruguay, to come to an informed opinion.

We must be aware that in the scientific community there remains a 
divide about the benefits or detriments of marijuana; that the church 
remains firm in its opposition to the liberalization of drugs, and 
even the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board does 
not want any breaches to international agreements, in any rush to 
change the laws relating to cannabis.

There must be no quick change of the legal position in this country, 
or indeed the wider Caribbean, on the matter of marijuana. We need an 
agreed position, based on harmonized laws across the region. It can 
be achieved only through informed discussion and debate, led by 
facts, not by emotion. It is a matter which this region will have to resolve.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom