High-speed wireless can help ganja farmers protect legal crops — Sinclair
IT goes without saying that with the passage through both houses of Parliament of the amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act, and with the Governor General’s assent imminent, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) should immediately stop arresting people with less than two ounces of marijuana.
In tandem with that, the burning of ganja fields must also cease immediately, to ensure that we will have adequate supplies of ganja to meet the needs of the proposed industry.
For the legislation which now decriminalises ganja for possession of small amounts of the weed to make sense, the much-touted public education has to begin immediately. We suggest that the fines to be imposed through the ticketing system be used to fund the public awareness programme since it is unlikely that there will be money in the budget to undertake this.
One of the significant elements of the passage of the legislation is the unity of purpose demonstrated by both the Government and the Opposition. Let this unity extend throughout all aspects of the creation of a legitimate medicinal ganja industry, beginning with the public education programme. Like it or not, some people will not easily appreciate the difference between decriminalisation and legalisation of ganja.
The new paradigm being ushered in by the so-called ganja law will bring some specific challenges as we endeavour to grapple with the big changes that are bound to come, firstly in our legal practices and later in our social habits. We look forward to the removal of some of the burden on the police and the courts in respect of those cases that are to be affected by the legislative changes. We have always wondered how much of the huge backlog of cases was for ganja possession.
We suggest too that the proposal to expunge the police records of people previously convicted for small amounts of ganja be expedited once Sir Patrick Allen puts his signature on the legislation next week. Too many Jamaicans, especially those seeking to migrate or apply for jobs, have suffered unnecessarily because of such records.
As already indicated, the network of organisations and individuals advocating for decriminalising and legalisation has great expectations which the passing of the bill has further emboldened.
“The approval today is a tremendous leap forward for human rights, social justice, health care and the potential for economic prosperity through the development of a multifaceted cannabis industry and products in food, nutrition, medical cannabis, pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, crafts and clothing,” said the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Task Force; the Ganja Future Growers and Producers Association; and the National Alliance for the Legalisation of Ganja, in their joint statement on Tuesday.
The network of advocates has also asked a very pertinent question which has to be answered quickly: Will members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force now also be armed with scales, in order to determine that a person held with ganja is carrying two or fewer ounces?
So the work has only just begun.