Jamaica... Get going with ganja!

Get going with ganja

 

Delano Seiveright, Guest Columnist:



I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the Jamaica Stock Exchange's 2014 Capital Markets Conference in Kingston on investment opportunities from legalising ganja.

The last several days and weeks have seen a literal cascade of positive developments on the issue, so much so that even United States President Barack Obama stated publicly that ganja is no more dangerous than alcohol, pointed to the unfair state of affairs at the criminal-justice level, and noted that the legalisation in Colorado and Washington was "important" because it represented the decriminalisation of a commonly used substance.

Following Mr Obama's comments, we have seen former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan; former president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; and Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry at one of the world's most prestigious annual gatherings of leaders, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, speak strongly about the need for marijuana law reform.

Closer to home, we have seen where yet another national poll in the United States, in the NBC/Wall Street Journal, finding that a majority of Americans support legalising ganja. Meanwhile, in Florida, medical ganja will be on the November ballot; US Attorney General Eric Holder has said that federal government will allow banks to accept deposits from state-legalised businesses; and the US's richest man, Microsoft's Bill Gates, stated that he voted to legalise ganja in Washington state and thinks implementation is going well so far.

Why the wait?

So what exactly are we waiting on? I believe that the conversation of ganja-law reform is nearing maturity in Jamaica.

A poll last year showed near 60 per cent support for relaxing the laws concerning ganja use, and if the Jamaica Stock Exchange is willing to go as far as to facilitate a session on the subject, we can all agree that a whole lot of progress has been made. Jamaica is very easily a brand name for ganja and we have a huge opportunity to let it work for us.

The investment opportunities from legalising ganja are huge, even outside of the stereotypical smoking of it.

Everyone by now should be aware of the development of Medicanja, Jamaica's first medical ganja company established by Jamaican scientist and entrepreneur, Dr Henry Lowe. Here, Dr Lowe, like several others, sees the incredible opportunities for research and product development using the medicinal compounds called the cannabinoids, the non-psychoactive compounds.

First developer of Canasol

We should never lose sight of the fact that Jamaica was one of the first countries in the world to develop a commercial product from ganja, Canasol, used to treat glaucoma. It would be a crying shame if we sat and allowed ourselves to lose out to an emerging multibillion-dollar industry in Europe and North America.

Incidentally, in 2001, the government-sanctioned, Barry Chevannes-led National Com-mission on Ganja had as one of its recommendations, "that, in order that Jamaica be not left behind, a Cannabis Research Agency be set up, in collaboration with other countries, to coordinate research into all aspects of cannabis, including its epidemiological and psychological effects, and, importantly, as well its pharmacological and economic potential, such as is being done by many other countries, not least including some of the most vigorous in its suppression." That's 13 years ago, and the report is probably gathering dust somewhere in the government bureaucracy.

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance by the US federal government, meaning according to the government, it has no medical value. This makes it quite difficult for scientists to study any potential medical uses, since human medical trials require permission from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and, when it comes to illegal substances, the Drug Enforcement Adminis-tration.

As soon as it's a 'go'

Given these challenges in the US and throughout the globe, Jamaica, once our government says "go", can quickly position itself as a world leader in this multibillion-dollar growth industry, given our perfect geographical location just over an hour by plane from Miami, language advantage, and the many Jamaican scientists coming out of universities here and overseas.

Time is not on our side, given developments in the United States. We cannot afford to delay any longer.

Today, Israel, about an 11- hour non-stop flight from New York's JFK International, is the medical ganja research capital of the world.

There is a lot to go around and Jamaica just needs a little of the action to make a big impact here. We are talking mega bucks for a dynamic, high-skilled, high-paid health and research tourism industry with great multiplier effects.

Already, several major international companies are looking seriously at establishing laboratories in Uruguay, after that country legalised it just several weeks ago. Uruguay is about nine hours non-stop from Miami. It is really time for us to get cracking. This is a slam dunk.

In the very least, however, we must congratulate Science Minister Phillip Paulwell for his decisiveness so far in moving the science component forward quickly. He gets it and is coordinating with his own Scientific Research Council and major stakeholders in driving the process forward rapidly.

It is important to note that recent moves in the United States and elsewhere have created an industry where many players have never even touched the plant. In Colorado alone, the industry incorporates lawyers, architects, laboratory technicians, real estate developers, academia, accountants, doctors, nurses, tour operators, agronomists, security, clerical personnel and an amazing range of spin-offs. To put it into context, Colorado has more ganja dispensaries than Starbucks.

The overall ganja market in the United States, according to some authoritative sources, is estimated to value over US$100 billion, just several billion dollars short of the alcohol industry. We are unsure of our nation's market, but the impact of legalisation on the agriculture, tourism and financial sectors would be immense. Many farmers, potential farmers, hoteliers and a litany of other businesses stand to benefit from what would undoubtedly be an increase in the number of tourists visiting the island and feeling at ease in acquiring our Brand name product.

One company in Colorado is already booked 100 per cent for ganja tours right into the summer throughout the state. Here being the home of reggae, Bob Marley and high grade, there is doubt in our minds that quality ganja tours here will be so much of a hit that operators will struggle to keep up with the numbers. The opportunities are great.

Let's get going!

Delano Seiveright is a director of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition. Email feedback to columns@ gleanerjm.com and delanoseiveright@yahoo.com, or tweet him @delanoseiv.

February 02, 2014

Jamaica Gleaner

The history of ganja and the Jamaican society is interesting and instructive

The ganja law of 1913: 100 years of oppressive injustice

By Louis MOYSTON
 

THIS year marks the 100th anniversary of the Ganja Law of 1913. This law was rooted in fear and also in a tradition of law-making that discriminated against lower class black people. It is a racist law that epitomises the oppressive injustice of slavery and the colonial/planter system. This racist law was the idea of the Council of Evangelical Churches in Jamaica. The Law gave the police special powers which members of the force used, in a brutal and repressive manner, against the people in general and the Rastafarians in particular. The Ganja Law of 1913 must be abolished and replaced by a new regime. The earliest debates on ganja were informed by elite white perception and anecdotal evidence. They lacked the philosophical, logical and scientific perspectives.

The history of ganja and the Jamaican society is interesting and instructive. It is interesting because of the major characters and setting associated with the Law of 1913 and its subsequent amendments. It is instructive because it illustrates the brutal nature of law-making process in post-slavery society, and its oppressive application against the masses, lower class black people. The emergence of the campaign and preparation of this oppressive instrument, the 1913 Law and its Amendment in the 1920's, was led by the Church and white elites. During the 1930's and 1940s the newspaper in combination with elite perception, the police and the Resident Magistrate were the major characters in the amendments in that period. In the pre-and post- Independence period the government through the Ministries of Home Affairs and later the Minister of Health led the ganja debate of the 1960s and 1970s. Today it is the Minister of Justice who plays the lead role for the government in the current ganja debate. The planter-controlled society meted out severe punishment to black labourers in the form of extremely high fines for penalties from court cases in the post-emancipation period. The fine for ganja, "a victimless crime", was exorbitant for people who had little or no money. When the fines were not effective as deterrent, they were combined with mandatory imprisonment. It was this law that introduced "mandatory imprisonment" in the jurisprudence landscape of Jamaica. This measure did not curb the use of ganja.

At the end of the 19th century into the early 20th century, the church in Jamaica saw its power declining. There were the emergence of the revivalist movements and also an increasing of vices — use of opium, ganja and alcohol. It felt that it had the moral obligation to curb, if not destroy these vices. Many newspaper reports have illustrated the issues of the church regarding ganja smoking among the "natives"; and also its association of ganja to insanity. In 1912 there was an Opium Convention at The Hague. There were also increasing concerns in Jamaica on ganja smoking among the "natives". According to one study, the Council of Evangelical Churches prepared the Law and sent it to the Legislative Council in 1912. It was not acted upon. In the same period the newspaper published that out of 283 people admitted admitted to using ganja. About the same period there was another article on the "Dangers of ganja smoking among the natives of this colony" illustrating the dangers of ganja smoking now that there is increasing evidence of ganja smoking among black people. The white elites associated violence with ganja smoking; and since they perceive black people as 'brutes' they developed narratives of the 'evils of ganja smoking' among lower class blacks. During the colonial/planter rule racism was the order of the day; and high fines as oppressive penalties were meted out against lower class black people for the simplest of crimes. The matter of race emerged again in the mid-1960s was raised by government Senator Ronald Irvine in the ganja debate with Opposition Senator Ken McNeil.

The Ganja Law of 1913 was employed against the "cultivation and importation" of ganja, punishable by a fine of one hundred pounds or up to 12 months imprisonment. The same Council of Evangelical Movement observed that the Law of 1913 was "practically useless". According to reports the Church called for amendments for smoking selling and entering premises upon which ganja is grown by the police. There was no regard for the rights of man on how he used his private property. This reflection on the second amendment took at the time of the 1924 UN Opium conference in Geneva. The 1924 Amendment, inspired by the Church called for drastic increased of fines and imprisonment on first conviction. It was renamed "Dangerous Drug Law of 1924". The 1930 and 1940's was marked with the rise of the early Rastafari movement and the role of lower class black people resisting oppression. The leading newspaper and the white elites began a national campaign against ganja against their fears about the plant. The police and the Resident Magistrates of the parishes were the leading characters in the amendment of the 1924 Law. There was concern that ganja smoking may have been associated with the uprisings among the masses in 1938. The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act may have provided propaganda during the period.

The 1940s amendment was, in part, a response to the emergence of Leonard P. Howell and the early Rastafari movement. The development of the Ganja amendments in the 1960's was also associated with radical activism by Rasta and also violence associated with the Henry back-to-Africa movement. It was the period of the "Coral Gardens Affairs" that the amendments of the 1960s took place. New developments in Jamaican politics in the 1970s and influence from scientific developments about ganja smoking, smashed the anecdotal allegations of the past. This led to profound change of the ganja law in the 1970s by removing the list of criminal activities associated with the law and its mandatory imprisonment characteristic. A study of Ganja Smoking in Jamaica completed by Rubin and Comitas in 1972 may have also had influence on the ganja debates of the 1970s. Changes in the USA during the 1990s and 2000s, have influenced levels of ganja lobbying in Jamaica that led to the Chevannes Commission in 2000 and the current initiative led by the Minister of Justice, Minister Mark Golding, respectively. The time has come for a new regime for ganja, similar to the license and regulation of alcohol. According to Fraser (1974) in his study on the ganja laws in the region, the eradication of ganja is impossible and the time has come for a new legal regime.

Louis EA Moyston

thearchives01@yahoo.com

December 02, 2013

Jamaica Observer

Bahamas Blog International

Jamaican senator wants marijuana decriminalised

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- Jamaican Senator Dennis Meadows has revived interest in the debate on the decriminalisation of marijuana (ganja) in Parliament.

"What I am advocating is that ganja, at the level of spliffs for private use, (should) be treated similarly to a traffic ticket," Meadows argued in his contribution to the 2009/10 State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday

"What now obtains is only serving to criminalise our already marginalised young men and women, thereby creating a reservoir of hopelessness," the Senator suggested.

He said that, for example, many young men were unable to take advantage of the Government's farm work programme, because of a previous ganja conviction, at the level of a spliff (or joint).

"Decriminalisation, among other things, will serve to free up the police resources and the already stressed justice system to focus on more serious crimes," Meadows insisted.

He also suggested that the government take steps to debate the recommendations of the Report of the National Commission on Ganja in Parliament, and to pursue diplomatic efforts to avoid international repercussions.

He noted that there are persons who would argue that, because of treaty obligations, any attempt to decriminalise ganja will be met with far reaching diplomatic repercussions, particularly as it relates to the United States. However, he said that the Jamaican people wanted closure on the issue and were demanding action, now.

The National Commission on Ganja had recommended, among other things, that use of small quantities of marijuana should be decriminalised.

December 14, 2009

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International