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Simplepowa
In Pursuit of Knowledge


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 4,310
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Jamaica Debates Marijuana Decriminalization
#18987237 - 10/16/13 05:28 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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by Phillip Smith, October 15, 2013, 05:32pm
Lawmakers in Kingston Tuesday debated marijuana decriminalization, even though there is no bill pending or vote scheduled. The move came as the evergreen issue of marijuana law reform picks up momentum in the home of reggae and Rastafari, with other Caribbean and nearby island nations and US states contemplating similar pot law changes.
Marijuana decriminalization or legalization has been a topic of discussion in Jamaica for decades, but no governments have moved beyond the talking stage. As the winds of change blow across the hemisphere, however, pressure for reform is mounting.
In Tuesday's debate, lawmakers complained that young men are getting criminal records for possession of ganja as the rate of 300 a week. Those criminal records lessen those people's job prospects, the lawmakers said.
"There is no doubt that ganja can have harmful effects on an individual. But this does not warrant criminalization of thousands of Jamaicans for their personal choice and use, some for reasons deep-rooted in culture," opposition Jamaica Labor Party lawmaker Daryl Vaz, a former information minister, said in remarks reported by LinkUpRadio.com.
"For personal use, the punishment of a criminal record is too much," agreed People's National Party (PNP) Minister of State for Tourism & Entertainment Damion Crawford, the son of a Rastafarian. Too many Jamaicans suffer the consequences of those criminal records for ganja, he added.
The debate came after a PNP lawmaker, Raymond Pryce, filed a motion to open discussion. Pryce argued that the plant has long been a part of Jamaica's history despite being prohibited in 1913. Pryce said that there was great commercial and medicinal potential in the plant. The plant has long been used medicinally as well as recreationally by rural Jamaicans, and is considered a sacred sacrament by Rastafarians.
More than a decade ago, a government-appointed commission recommending decriminalizing the possession and cultivation of small amounts of pot, saying the herb was "culturally entrenched" in the county, but that recommendation went nowhere in the face of fears of angering the US. Now, with two US states having already legalized marijuana and more getting in line to do so, the fear of dire reaction from Washington has largely dissipated.
Kingston Jamaica
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2013/oct/15/jamaica_debates_marijuana_decrim
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Carl Sagan - "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." --- Robert Pirsig - "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." --- Brian Cox - "[One] problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it. The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense."
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lessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
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Re: Jamaica Debates Marijuana Decriminalization [Re: Simplepowa]
#18988115 - 10/16/13 08:35 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Wow, seems something has changed in 2012 after all
Society has started to get more logical / started to use common sense in laws
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Celestial Traveler
Random Observer



Registered: 03/03/11
Posts: 7,639
Loc: Idaho
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Re: Jamaica Debates Marijuana Decriminalization [Re: lessismore]
#18989002 - 10/16/13 11:22 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
mio said: Wow, seems something has changed in 2012 after all
Society has started to get more logical / started to use common sense in laws
Lol just because marijuana legalization is gaining more traction, somehow there was some truth to the 2012 prophecies?
Besides marijuana legalization already had some momentum before 2012. It's not like 100% of the population agreed with the Drug War then all of a sudden come 12-21-2012, "let's legalize marijuana" came into their heads.
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Rockhound
The Rockweiler



Registered: 01/19/13
Posts: 664
Loc: hell creek anticline
Last seen: 8 years, 7 months
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Drug legalization is on the horizon now because myself and thousands of others have been explaining to everyone we meet how rediculous drug laws are, for the last +25 years in my case. The mayan calander has nothing to do with it.
-------------------- Rocks speak to me, and tell me this: The Hell Creek formation is a gigantic slab of rocks that covers several western states. It contains an account of the dinosaurs' demise. In the late Cretaceous period, the first Cannabis species appear, and soon after, all the non-bird dinosaurs disappeared. Obviously, marihuana killed the dinosaurs. That giant meteor that smacked the yucatan peninsula right afterwards, coincidence.
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lessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
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Re: Jamaica Debates Marijuana Decriminalization [Re: Rockhound]
#18991919 - 10/17/13 05:14 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Rockhound said: Drug legalization is on the horizon now because myself and thousands of others have been explaining to everyone we meet how rediculous drug laws are, for the last +25 years in my case. The mayan calander has nothing to do with it.
:-)
it was just a joke
but people seem to be getting more openminded lately, or maybe I'm just meeting openminded people all the time by chance
we meet who we are :-)
so be how we want others to be, be nice to others, say what you mean no matter what others think etc.
if you cannot say what you mean you have discarded your most basic freedom
we can change everyone around us by changing ourselves, we program other people when we interact with them, so be nice :-)
soon society will change and acceptance & tolerance will be key
I guess I'm a subscriber to transhumanism... the idea that a singularity will form when we reach a critical information level in society then all will be one, because all already is one, but now people will realize it, they're not unique
the only thing that makes us unique is our thoughts, and they're not who we are
Edited by lessismore (10/17/13 05:23 PM)
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