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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization
#14279074 - 04/12/11 05:10 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization April 12, 2011 - Associated Press
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Top government officials will review recommendations to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and religious use in Jamaica, which is the Caribbean's largest pot exporter to the U.S.
Six Cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Bruce Golding's administration will evaluate a 2001 report by the National Commission for Ganja — as marijuana is known locally.
The commission, which included academics and doctors and was appointed by a government led by the current opposition, argued that the drug was "culturally entrenched" in Jamaica and that moderate use had no negative health effects on most users.
It is not clear why the Jamaican government is choosing to review the decade-old report now.
On Tuesday, the Rev. Webster Edwards, who served on the commission a decade ago, voiced relief that the report would be reviewed by Cabinet members. He expressed hope that legislators might eventually loosen laws against marijuana.
"There have been many persons who have been lifelong smokers of ganja who have not moved to harder drugs at all," Edwards said. "Decriminalizing very, very small quantities will allow persons not to get strikes against them in the justice system."
Edwards stressed that the report also urged the government to step up operations against large-scale marijuana cultivation.
Though widely tolerated in public, smoking marijuana remains illegal in Jamaica, where followers of the Rastafarian minority say it is a sacrament and brings them closer to the divine. Some Jamaicans brew ganja tea to alleviate aches.
Previous efforts in Jamaica to legalize small amounts of marijuana have been scuttled because officials feared they would violate international treaties and bring sanctions from Washington.
For decades, the United States has worked with Jamaica to burn marijuana fields and carry out other anti-drug efforts. It has also provided aid to fight drug trafficking in Jamaica, the Caribbean's largest marijuana producer.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Kingston did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Decriminalization, even for personal use, would cause friction with Washington and violate various treaties, including the 1988 U.N. Convention Against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Jamaica signed the accord.
The 2001 commission addressed these concerns in its report, urging the government to "embark on diplomatic initiatives ... to elicit support for its internal position and influence the international community to re-examine the status of cannabis."
Dr. Wendel Abel at the University of the West Indies Department of Community Health and Psychiatry said he is confident international treaties won't allow the island to decriminalize the drug.
But Abel also said there is "widespread support in Jamaica for decriminalization for private, personal use."
Any change in existing drug laws would have to be approved by Jamaica's Parliament.
The ministerial review of the 2001 report was first announced Monday.
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Rabid Jelly Bean
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Registered: 01/25/10
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Loc: TX
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: veggie]
#14279358 - 04/12/11 06:02 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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The US really fucked everyone over with that UN treaty. Jamaica would have pot legal by now if it weren't for that damn thing.
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Humility
Working on it



Registered: 10/07/08
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: Rabid Jelly Bean]
#14279417 - 04/12/11 06:15 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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If Portugal and Spain can do it, so can Jamaica.
Jamaica may be more dependent on US aid though, who knows.
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AbstraKt_I_Am


Registered: 12/21/10
Posts: 1,898
Loc: Abroad.
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: Humility]
#14279686 - 04/12/11 07:07 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Humility said: If Portugal and Spain can do it, so can Jamaica.
Jamaica may be more dependent on US aid though, who knows.
Bingo. Jamaicas also pooooor as shit. I'm sure they just don't wanna hurt their relationship with US over pot.
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bigmike7104
Stranger

Registered: 07/12/10
Posts: 1,395
Loc: USA
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: AbstraKt_I_Am]
#14280817 - 04/12/11 09:55 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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but if they were to fully legalize it, the money they would make from it and increased tourism might replace the amount of aid they get from the u.s.
-------------------- Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines
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Run
Questioning my existance



Registered: 10/22/09
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: bigmike7104]
#14281253 - 04/12/11 10:56 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I was under the impression that it was fully legal there?
with all the rostas and apparent huge pot fields??
-------------------- You, me, this point in existence is undeniably so unique, we take everything for granite ,life , comprehension, feelings, thought, so accustomed to understanding that we've lost the meaning of fully understanding who we are..... we are the extra terrestrial, we are the unknown, we are the mystical...
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Kinko
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: Run]
#14281267 - 04/12/11 10:59 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Run said: I was under the impression that it was fully legal there?
with all the rostas and apparent huge pot fields??
marijuana is not legal anywhere on planet earth.
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Darklight203
Same Shit



Registered: 08/14/10
Posts: 1,394
Loc: Nome, Alaska
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Re: Jamaica panel to review pot decriminalization [Re: Humility]
#14281839 - 04/13/11 01:18 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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The Czech Republic decriminalized quite a few 'soft' drugs as well. Hopefully the world learns from Portugal and other countries as bold. I hope it helps their economy, too =P
-------------------- In ancient times, when demons roamed with man, They hunted, loved and lost, hand in hand, As time went on, the difference between them faded. You couldn't tell anymore, demons and man were related, and some would say the same, but who would like to claim? In time, Gods had even forgot, Demons, too, once love had sought. In times recent I remember, Once I was a man, In my heart I had an ember, I'll relate the best I can but it was snuffed, one distant December. And yet here I stand, no flesh, no bones, no seed or semen, All that's left is this Demon.
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