New: One more time - should ganja be legalized?

[Tropicana]

What is there to discuss? It is clearly evident. Just because a job does not fall into the professional category does not mean that it does not have merit and value.

This is the ganja thread.....if you want to discuss labour, please start a new thread.

[Emperah]

do you realize the real and true reason ganja is illegal has nothing to with the effects it has with people, do you know the REAL reason it was made illegal?

[Peasie]

What is there to discuss? It is clearly evident. Just because a job does not fall into the professional category does not mean that it does not have merit and value.

This is the ganja thread.....if you want to discuss labour, please start a new thread.

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[Tropicana]

do you realize the real and true reason ganja is illegal has nothing to with the effects it has with people, do you know the REAL reason it was made illegal?

You and I have discussed this many times and if I recall I believe you said that ganja was being used to manufacture something (don't recall what...was it rope from hemp?) and the government was lobbied by the people who were manufacturing the same thing to ban ganja so that they could make mega-profits. You never shared a link with me about this though so the recollection is fuzzy.

So what if the original reason was what you stated (I don't know if it is...awaiting independent confirmation from you). If time has passed and it has been proven that ganja triggers latent psychoses, makes users lethargic, reduces sex drive, and makes userts pay less attention to their grooming, isn't that sufficient reason to ban it?

[My Looh]

that ganja triggers latent psychoses, makes users lethargic, reduces sex drive, and makes userts pay less attention to their grooming, isn't that sufficient reason to ban it?

Alcohol does all those things too, and worse, but it is legal. Also there a many prescription drugs that also have those effects but they too are legal.

[Gen]

yeyewata

[Gen]

tapie

since when yuh get MD paypaz and since when yuh duh yuh own serious research pan ganja.

[diabolical_Tanya]

Alcohol does all those things too, and worse, but it is legal. Also there a many prescription drugs that also have those effects but they too are legal.

So very true

I have seen many "drunken" bar brawls but never a "high on weed" brawl same with domestic abuse calls, it's always he/she was drunk not he/she was high on weed

[Tropicana]

Alcohol does all those things too, and worse, but it is legal. Also there a many prescription drugs that also have those effects but they too are legal.

Prescription drugs like morphine are not legal for recreational use. In moderation, alcohol is not harmful.

[Wahalla]

Prescription drugs like morphine are not legal for recreational use. In moderation, alcohol is not harmful.

harmful is a vague term.. Water is harmful ask all the people who drown.. Scient use the term Toxicity....
If toxicity is the question...Then given that the toxicity level of Cannabis is lower than Tylanol, Ibupofen, Aspirin and caffeine there is no need for a ban..And as for Ackee.... Given that more Jamaicans die from the consumption of Ackee than Cannabis ban Ackee, higher toxicity.. Cassava.. bitter Cassava higher toxicity.... Red Beans higher toxicity when under prepare....

Given that from a addictive perspective.. Cannabis is considered less addictive than Caffeine.. Ban Tea and coffee...However it is considered more addictive than LSD..... and mescaline....

I know at least one of our Prime Minister enjoyed a draw or three....

[Wahalla]

given that the gleaner seems to agree....

and decriminalize....


Decriminalise Ganja

Published: Monday | September 2, 20130 Comments




More than a decade after a task force appointed by the Government first recommended the decriminalisation of the use of marijuana in Jamaica, the matter has again come to the fore.
This newspaper believes that it is high time that the Government act rationally and implement the recommendations of the Chevannes commission.
For, as Anthony Gifford, QC, noted last week, it makes little sense that each year Jamaica makes criminals of thousands of its young men for smoking marijuana joints. Enforcing this stupid law helps to clog an overburdened court system and costs taxpayers money which can be better spent elsewhere.
Having done this, we should, with dispatch, get along with other aspects of marijuana reform, including regulations for the research into, and the medical use of, the drug and controls for trading in it.

[Wahalla]

hope this time they dong go and buy the cannabis from the USA as they did in a research project in the past...

School Of Marijuana - Research Facility To Be Established

Published: Monday | September 2, 20130 Comments




John Myers Jr, Gleaner Writer
A new research facility to study the scientific benefits of marijuana is to be established jointly in Jamaica by two local universities.
Paul Chang, chairman of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition made the disclosure at a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Wednesday.
Chang said the new research centre, which is to be called the Jamaica Cannabis Institute, will be jointly established by the University of the WestIndies (UWI) and the University of Technology (UTech).
"Gordon Shirley has stepped up to the plate. He's asked me to put together the Jamaica Cannabis Institute at UWI," Chang told the forum.
"We are making presentations to the UWI Council at the end of October. (It is going to) focus on scientific research in medical and other scientific applications."
Further to that, the ganja advocate said he has been made an adviser to the UTech president to drive the establishment of the new research facility, which if approved, will be built on the campus of the UWI.
For Dr Henry Lowe, the renowned Jamaican scientist who was instrumental in the development of the glaucoma fighting drug, Canasol, from marijuana, the establishment of a local research centre is critical for Jamaica to strategically harness the potential of ganja.
The establishment of the Jamaica Cannabis Institute follows similar efforts by Lowe and fellow scientist, Professor Errol Morrison, now the president of UTech, to build a facility to conduct research on ganja for medicine. That facility was closed in 2002.

[Wahalla]

And even the tourstist tink is worth high end...

Ganja Has Potential To Attract High-End Tourists

Published: Monday | September 2, 20130 Comments




John Myers Jr, Gleaner Writer
Those advocating for the legalisation of ganja are suggesting that tourism officials consider incorporating it among the unique attributes of Jamaica when promoting the island to attract high-spending tourists.
Paul Chang, chairman of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition told a Gleaner Editor's Forum last Wednesday that ganja has the potential to change the fortunes of the tourism sector, which is traditionally serviced by low-spending visitors mainly from the United States.
However, Chang argued that if tourism officials decided to add ganja to the alluring attributes of Jamaica, like reggae, jerk and the many pristine beaches that the island is renowned for, it could "enhance our tourismproduct in a high-end area".
About two million tourists flock to our shores annually, but the majority of them who come from the US - 63 per cent - is considered budget spenders. The island earns about US$2 billion annually from tourism. So far, the Jamaica Tourist Board, which is responsible for marketing Jamaica to travellers globally has been struggling to attract high-end tourists in large numbers, like in the early years when celebrities such as the famed James Bond creator Errol Flynn would visit regularly.
Several multibillion-dollar projects such as Harmony Cove and Palmyra, which were being developed for the high-end tourism market, have failed to get off the ground or completed.
In May, the five-diamond ultra-luxury Ritz-Carlton pulled out of Jamaica.
Chang claimed that taping the high-end tourism market is not difficult, as there were high-spending tourists, based on his interaction with travellers, who are ready to holiday in Jamaica if it were legal to consume ganja, both for medical and recreational purposes.
"We are talking about adding significant spend per tourist if we move from the typical all-inclusive that buys all imported goods that don't really spin-off any local benefits, to branding (for) medical and recreational cannabis (ganja)," Chang said.
He added: "We don't need to sell it to the world. We could focus our (ganja) tourism on one market - New York ... . We have specific opportunities for brand Jamaica; we cannot depend on the sand and the surf and the cruise ships only."

[Wahalla]

Remove The Ganja Stigma

Published: Monday | September 2, 20130 Comments




Paul Chang, Chairman of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition (GLRC) in Jamaica, has expressed disappointment over the image that has been painted of the marijuana over the years, which according to him, has resulted in Jamaica missing opportunities.
"Over the years, there has been this false science and lie associated with ganja and that has created a huge problem. We have painted the wrong image and so it's (ganja) linked with a lot of shame and class," Chang told a Gleaner's Editor's Forum on Wednesday.
"We have a misconception because of the demonisation that the substance has been associated with and so we keep missing the opportunities. This (ganja) is a multibillion-dollar industry," he declared.
Pointing to countries such as the United States and Canada which have changed their perception of the substance, he has made an appeal for Jamaica to get on board.
"It has changed in America and continues to be transformed rapidly in terms of public opinion, and finally, science is catching up with the falsehood of propaganda," he said.
"(Jamaica is) still not quite there yet. There is still work to do. We have various stakeholders coming on board to start the campaign and to do a whole transformation because ganja is still associated with rastafari, criminals and idleness," he asserted.
Similarly, Miguel Lorne, Attorney-at-law and an advocate for the decriminalisation of ganja in Jamaica, says Rastafarians continue to encounter discrimination as a result of ganja usage.
"Its a very touchy issue that the governments are afraid to touch. With regards to Rastafari, it's not just a frivolous issue of wanting an excuse to smoke," he declared.
"Many Rastafarians have been killed, in fact, the whole ganja issue has brought into focus that hostility between rastas and the police, not just in Jamaica but in several other parts of the world," Lorne lamented.
He called, therefore, for a change in the mindset of Jamaicans saying, "It's integral that the perception is changed.
"A lot of our young men are just scraped off the corners and continue to face unfair treatment because once you use the substance, it is believed you are the same one who fire the guns and we are here advocating for a change," Lorne declared

[Wahalla]

And even the tourstist tink is worth high end...

Ganja Has Potential To Attract High-End Tourists

Published: Monday | September 2, 20130 Comments




John Myers Jr, Gleaner Writer
Those advocating for the legalisation of ganja are suggesting that tourism officials consider incorporating it among the unique attributes of Jamaica when promoting the island to attract high-spending tourists.
Paul Chang, chairman of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition told a Gleaner Editor's Forum last Wednesday that ganja has the potential to change the fortunes of the tourism sector, which is traditionally serviced by low-spending visitors mainly from the United States.
However, Chang argued that if tourism officials decided to add ganja to the alluring attributes of Jamaica, like reggae, jerk and the many pristine beaches that the island is renowned for, it could "enhance our tourismproduct in a high-end area".
About two million tourists flock to our shores annually, but the majority of them who come from the US - 63 per cent - is considered budget spenders. The island earns about US$2 billion annually from tourism. So far, the Jamaica Tourist Board, which is responsible for marketing Jamaica to travellers globally has been struggling to attract high-end tourists in large numbers, like in the early years when celebrities such as the famed James Bond creator Errol Flynn would visit regularly.
Several multibillion-dollar projects such as Harmony Cove and Palmyra, which were being developed for the high-end tourism market, have failed to get off the ground or completed.
In May, the five-diamond ultra-luxury Ritz-Carlton pulled out of Jamaica.
Chang claimed that taping the high-end tourism market is not difficult, as there were high-spending tourists, based on his interaction with travellers, who are ready to holiday in Jamaica if it were legal to consume ganja, both for medical and recreational purposes.
"We are talking about adding significant spend per tourist if we move from the typical all-inclusive that buys all imported goods that don't really spin-off any local benefits, to branding (for) medical and recreational cannabis (ganja)," Chang said.
He added: "We don't need to sell it to the world. We could focus our (ganja) tourism on one market - New York ... . We have specific opportunities for brand Jamaica; we cannot depend on the sand and the surf and the cruise ships only."

I did a pop quiz in my office and there isnt a single person who hasnt at some point had a draw..even the non smokers.. the interesting matter is that they are all high earning very smart individuals (not like Wahalla) two of whom have been to Jamaica repeatedly on holiday.... ..These are Managers , Engineers,logistics, HR , HSE, they are functioning smart people... the idea that there is some scum bag hopped out of their head spending theri life mugging for a living, lying in their vomit while selling a hyper addictive substance is a myth....

From a Jamaican perspective weed is one of the few product I believe is produced locally and retains 100 % of the revenue generated... and ensures that weatlh derived from the tourism industry trickled down,, The only more locally focused 100 % local content is sex workers.. But my understanding there are brothels with chinese workers...

As they said in the seventies the attractions of Jamaica are sand sex and sensimilla....

Doctors smoke it
players of instrument too...

As peter tosh puts it..

I dont like the smell!The only argument against the use is that sucking in carciongens.. however if that is the argument ban diesel engines...