US ISSUES GANJA WARNING

Decriminalisation Could Cause Certification Problems.

A day after the National Ganja Commission revealed that it has
recommended the decriminalisation of ganja in limited circumstances,
the American Embassy hinted that Jamaica could face certification
problems when the USA does its next annual narcotics review.

"The US government will consider Jamaica's adherence to its
commitments under the 1988 UN Drug Convention when making its
determination under the annual narcotics certification review," US
Embassy spokesman Michael Koplovsky said in a curt statement
yesterday.

The commission, chaired by Professor Barry Chevannes, dean of the
Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies,
announced Wednesday, after months of public and private hearings
across Jamaica, that it had recommended the decriminalisation of
ganja for personal, private use by adults and for use as a sacrament
for religious purposes.

It also suggested that the administration should begin an intensive
educational programme to reduce demand for the weed, particularly
among young people; that the security forces increase their efforts
of interdiction of large-scale cultivation of ganja and trafficking
of all illegal drugs; and that the country, as a matter of urgency,
should seek diplomatic support for its position and to influence the
international community to re-examine the status of cannabis.

The commission was established last year September by Prime Minister
P J Patterson who asked it to examine the historical use of the ganja
plant in Jamaica, by consulting with, and receiving submissions from
relevant interest groups.

The body was also required to indicate what changes, if any, are
required to existing laws governing the use of ganja, or to recommend
new legislation, taking into account social, cultural, economic and
international considerations.

But, the US government, through its mission here, had made it clear
that it was opposed to decriminalisation of the drug.

Jamaica is a signatory to the 1988 United Nations Convention against
the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

The treaty prohibits the manufacture, trade in, import, export,
engagement in transit traffic, sale, handing over, market, purchase
or acquisition of narcotic substances, among them ganja.

Last night, one political analyst speculated that the terse nature of
the US Embassy statement could influence the national debate
Patterson expects on the issue, as any decertification from the
Americans could affect aid programmes.

In July this year, the United Kingdom police started a pilot project
in south London in which persons caught with small amounts of ganja
are let off with an on-the-spot warning and the drug confiscated.

The project, which is to end in December this year, is aimed at
giving the limited number of police in Lambeth borough more time to
tackle hard drugs and crimes associated with crack and cocaine.