CHEVANNES AND GANJA LAW REFORM

It seems like only yesterday that a small group of like-minded persons
including myself met with Professor Barry Chevannes at a Kingston
hotel to discuss further ganja law reform for Jamaica. At our most
recent meeting sometime ago, he showed in a uniquely humble fashion
the ability to wade through some fairly complex issues with amazing
clarity and fixity of purpose. He clearly had a deep desire to see
substantive progress on a number of issues he had a burning interest
in. His commitment to Jamaica and the advancement of its people was
unquestioned. It didn't take much then for us to request the pleasure
of having him chair our group named the Ganja Law Reform Coalition of
which he accepted.

What we liked most of all was the fact that this man was, certainly in
our discussions with him, a highly pragmatic intellectual. An
intellectual who not only engaged in deep and analytical studies but
also was at the helm of efforts to see his analysis, his research, and
his conclusions escape the confines of academic literature and come to
life. The issue surrounding ganja law reform was a prime case in point.

The 2000-2001 National Commission on Ganja chaired by Professor Barry
Chevannes and its subsequent report is still as highly relevant today
as it was then. It is one of those extremely valuable reports that
came about under the P.J. Patterson-led administration, that never
made it to the stage of implementation. It is no doubt a topic that
spikes intense debate in some circles but it certainly appears as if
negative attitudes towards ganja law reform are subsiding for the most
part. World trends indicate a gradual softening of positions towards
personal ganja (marijuana) use. In the United States of America, more
than a dozen states have decriminalised possession of small amounts of
marijuana. Additionally, marijuana is already legal for medical use in
14 states and Washington, DC. In California and Colorado alone,
hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries have mushroomed over the
years. Further, possession of small amounts of cannabis is
decriminalised in! dozens of countries worldwide.

The growing chorus of ganja law reformers is getting louder and
louder. And it is coming from varying angles. Law-enforcement
officials, policymakers, academia, members of the medical community,
human rights activists, politicians, business leaders, social
activists and so on are in varying ways calling for a game-change.
Former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo; former President of
Brazil, Fernando Cardoso; former President of Colombia, Cesar Gaviria
and other Latin American leaders under their Latin American
Commission on Drugs and Democracy in a report titled 'Drugs and
Democracy: Toward a Paradigm Shift' called for the immediate
decriminalisation of marijuana. With failing, deadly and expensive
drug wars with no end in sight and certainly with marijuana being
less harmful than cigarette smoking and alcohol, some rethink to
marijuana (ganja) laws are desperately required.

In the case of Jamaica for more reasons than one, a shift needs to
take place. The Chevannes-led National Commission on Ganja report
pointed to a series of findings taken from the public that in a sense
reflects the overall Jamaican population's thinking on the issue of
the decriminalisation of ganja, notably within private space and
restricted to adults.

These include:

Personal benefits (to address a range of medical ailments);

God and natural order (Ganja is a natural herb given by
God);

Many Jamaicans don't see simple possession or use of ganja as a
crime

That the laws are inequitable as alcohol and tobacco, which are more
harmful, are legal while ganja is illegal;

Ganja use helps with stress alleviation, and;

Concerns that criminalising ganja criminalises non-criminals (for
example combining persons charged with ganja smoking with persons
charged for very serious crimes)

The report also pointed to submissions from professionals clearly
stating that:

There is indeed an inconsistency where tobacco and alcohol are
concerned;

The fact that ganja is not manifestly harmful for the majority of
people who use it in one form or another;

An inability to suppress it (ganja use) by legal means;

The wasteful use made of the criminal justice system, in terms of its
human and financial resources; and,

The compromising of the anti-drug message (cocaine, heroin also
criminal).

It is amazing that despite a very comprehensive report, which even
went into assessing the local and international legal ramifications
and bringing the issue to a joint select committee of Parliament, no
substantive progress has been made. What is of primary concern to me
is that this may be yet another lost opportunity for Jamaica. While
country by country and in the case of the United States, state by
state, relax their laws and regulations on personal ganja use, we
continue to sit around nine years after an exhaustive but
comprehensive report with clear recommendations and do NOTHING.

It is important to note that I am not and have never been a user of
ganja. My position on the issue is based squarely on the facts, the
need for fairness and equity and the huge benefits for Jamaica.
Likewise, one shouldn't misjudge my position to mean that I am
advocating for the use and/or misuse of marijuana. Further, just as
how smoking a cigarette in some environments (public offices, buses,
schools) is banned, the same should be applied for marijuana-smoking
whenever it is decriminalised. Strict laws must govern on this score.
No ganja law reformer is advocating for indiscipline and
recklessness.

In honour of the late Professor Barry Chevannes, I end with the
recommendations of the 2000-2001 National Commission on Ganja that
should be acted on sooner rather than later:

That the relevant laws be amended so that ganja be decriminalised for
the private, personal use of small quantities by adults;

That decriminalisation for personal use should exclude smoking by
juveniles or by anyone in premises accessible to the public;

That ganja should be decriminalised for use as a sacrament for
religious purposes;

That a sustained all-media, all-schools education programme aimed at
demand reduction accompany the process of decriminalisation, and that
its target should be, in the main, young people;

That the security forces intensify their interdiction of large
cultivation of ganja and trafficking of all illegal drugs, in
particular crack cocaine;

That, in order that Jamaica be not left behind, a cannabis research
agency be set up, in collaboration with other countries, to coordinate
research into all aspects of cannabis, including its epidemiological
and psychological effects, and importantly as well its pharmacological
and economic potential, such as is being done by many other countries,
not least including some of the most vigorous in its suppression; and,

That, as a matter of great urgency, Jamaica embark on diplomatic
initiatives with its CARICOM partners and other countries outside the
region, in particular members of the European Union, with a view (a)
to elicit support for its internal position, and (b) to influence the
international community to re-examine the status of cannabis.