RASTA ELDER WANTS ANTIGUA TO SHOW SPINE ON GANJA ISSUE

A leading local advocate for the decriminalisation of marijuana does
not believe his efforts (and that of others like-minded) will be
crippled by the latest US Justice Department ruling.

The American federal government has officially declared that
marijuana (or cannabis) has "no accepted medical use" and should
remain classified as "a dangerous and addictive drug." What this
means is that in the US, marijuana continues to be regarded in the
same category as other potent (and illegal) drugs like cocaine and heroin.

Medical marijuana supporters have, for the past decade, been pressing
US Federal authorities to reclassify cannabis (also referred to as
pot or ganja).

The activists point to research showing the drug's effectiveness in
treating diseases such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, and in
easing the side effects of chemotherapy, among other reputed beneficial uses.

Friday's ruling by the Justice Department marked the third time that
petitions to reclassify the substance have failed to gain approval in
the United States. The previous decisions were appealed, but the
courts sided with the federal government.

Meantime one of this country's best-known rastafarians, Franklyn
"King Frank-I" Francis, says despite the US stance, the struggle for
decriminalisation will continue there and over here.

"This is just a continuation of the United States of America's
senseless so-called drug war, which, many sources have been pointing
out, has failed terribly," he remarked. "In the face of three or four
decades of this so-called drug war, we have seen a proliferation in
the use of marijuana then."

Frank-I believes that to continue criminalising marijuana is to
criminalise a large section of the Antigua & Barbuda population.

"When we look at the Antiguan situation, for example, just off the
bat without the detailed research, we figure that a large percentage
of the population between the ages of 15 and 40 years are using herb
in some way or another," he said.

The Rastafarian elder warns that it would be a mistake for Antigua &
Barbuda to take its cue on the marijuana issue from the United
States. He believes the present UPP administration of Prime Minister
Baldwin Spencer has maintained a misguided silence and passivity with
respect to the decriminalisation debate.

"I think they have just not moved on it all, and I don't know if it's
really right to say that they have been averse to the whole question
of decriminalisation," he said.