JAMAICA SHOULD OK MARIJUANA, GROUP URGES

'Ganja' Commission Wants Drug Legalized

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Marijuana is as much a part of Jamaica's culture as
reggae and Blue Mountain coffee, and a national group wants it to become
just as legitimate.

The aptly named National Commission for Ganja -- the Hindi word for
marijuana -- recommended last week that the government legalize the private
use and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Between 20 percent and 40
percent of the country's 2.6 million people are believed to smoke
marijuana, many openly.

Not everyone is happy, however.

"It is a welcome step, but it is far short for a country where thousands of
people use ganja," said Paul Burke, a high-ranking member of the ruling
People's National Party. "It's part of the culture."

It is by no means certain that Jamaica will change its marijuana laws --
several top government officials have already voiced their emphatic
disagreement -- but the commission's suggestion to legalize the substance
is part of a growing clamor throughout the hemisphere to ease strictures
against it.

Restrictions easing

More than 100,000 people are expected to attend this weekend's Seattle
Hempfest, billed as the largest pot-legalization rally in history. The
Hawaii Legislature has approved the medical use of marijuana, and voters in
eight states have done the same. The Canadian government last month
approved medical use of marijuana.

The United States is watching warily to see whether Jamaica's Parliament
will adopt the commission's recommendations. Jamaica, a major producer and
exporter of marijuana, could risk losing U.S. certification -- and millions
of dollars in American foreign aid -- if Washington decides the island is
no longer cooperating in the war on drugs.

Richard Smyth, the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, made
clear Washington's longstanding position on the issue.

"The U.S. administration does not support the decriminalization of
marijuana use," he said. "Whenever Washington reviews the certification
issue, they look at a broad range of issues, including interdiction, demand
reduction, seizures of drugs, the legal structure and law enforcement
efforts in general."

Law rarely enforced

Possession of marijuana is illegal in Jamaica, but the law is rarely
enforced and penalties are light. Members of the Rastafarian religion use
it openly as part of their ceremonies.

The ganja commission wants to formalize what has amounted to governmental
benign neglect. In its report, the commission said that used in small
amounts, ganja caused no short-or long-term health effects. Penalizing
individuals for small quantities of marijuana is "unjust" and discredits
the entire Jamaican legal system, the report said.

"Ganja offenses have clogged up the court system for years and diverted the
police from the real problems, which are crack and cocaine," said Burke, a
member of the National Alliance for Legalization, a lobby group. "That's
the real threat of Jamaica."

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson set up the commission nine months ago. Its
members -- physicians and academics -- traveled around the island, gauging
sentiment.

The commission said children should be barred from using marijuana and its
public use should remain illegal. It also said, however, that the use of
marijuana in religious ceremonies should be allowed.

R. Keith Stroup, executive director of NORML, the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, was delighted by the Jamaican commission's
recommendations, which he said mirror those from the U.S. Commission on
Marijuana back in 1972.

Several European countries, Stroup said, already have decriminalized marijuana.

"The U.S. is acting as if this commission's recommendation is unique," he
said. "It's only the U.S. that has maintained this silly war on drugs."