cannabisnews.com: House To Complete Review of Ganja Report House To Complete Review of Ganja Report Posted by CN Staff on April 14, 2003 at 20:54:59 PT By Earl Moxam, Observer Writer Source: Jamaica Observer Parliament is set to complete its review of the report of the National Commission on Ganja during the course of the new legislative year, according to Attorney-General A J Nicholson.The commission, established by Prime Minister P J Patterson in November 2000, sat for nine months and received 354 oral and 44 written submissions. It was headed by University of the West Indies sociology professor, Barry Chevannes. In its report, which it presented to Patterson in August 2001, the commission recommended the decriminalisation of ganja for personal, private use by adults and for use as a sacrament for religious purposes.It also recommended that the state should begin an intensive education programme to reduce the demand for the drug, 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's report was tabled in Parliament last year and referred to a joint select committee of both houses of Parliament, chaired by then Government MP Canute Brown.It is likely that another Joint Select Committee will be established to take up where the Brown committee left off, Nicholson told the Observer."That committee would then make its recommendations in a report to Parliament, and then that report would be debated in the Parliament," he said.In the event that Parliament accepts the recommendation concerning decriminalisation, the appropriate changes would have to be made to the existing laws, which establish criminal sanctions for personal use of ganja in private.On that point, Nicholson reiterated that decriminalisation did not mean legalisation. "It would be treated essentially like a traffic offence," he said. "For example; it's quasi-criminal, meaning it's not something that would go on your record, so that even if you're caught with a spliff, which is for personal use... whatever happens in court, there would be no criminal record."Nicholson also highlighted "collateral issues", which Parliament will have to consider when looking at amending the appropriate legislation."How, for example, do we treat with possession for personal use, and the ability of that person to obtain the drug from someone else; what is the position of that other person?" he asked.Furthermore, he said that Jamaica would have to consider the implications for the country's international treaty obligations when looking at changes to local laws pertaining to ganja use.In that regard, he said, the person supplying the ganja, which is obtained for personal use, would, under existing laws, be considered a drug trafficker, which is a serious criminal offence covered by an existing treaty to which Jamaica is a party.Considering the many legal and social implications, Nicholson said it was important for the country's 4,500 justices of the peace and the general public to be properly informed about the reform proposals and their implications."As I tried to exhort the justices of the peace for Surrey recently, they have to be part of the whole debate and discussion concerning the decriminalisation issue," he said.Complete Title: House To Complete Review of Ganja Commission Report This Year -- Nicholson Source: Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)Author: Earl Moxam, Observer WriterPublished: Tuesday, April 15, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Jamaica Observer Ltd.Contact: editorial jamaicaobserver.comWebsite: http://www.jamaicaobserver.comRelated Articles:Bill To Legalise Ganja for Private Use Soonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15824.shtmlThe Illicit Drug Trade and Jamaica http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15818.shtmlJamaica: The Ganja Culture http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10439.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on April 19, 2003 at 10:34:53 PT: THE HISTORY OF THE GANJA LAWS WARRANTS REFORM Considering the conspiracy against the Ganja laws, as described in the Web article entitled Shadow Of The Swastika, www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html, reform of the Ganja laws is warranted. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 15, 2003 at 19:45:45 PT afterburner You're welcome. Bob Marley was a person with a talent and a dream. We need vision to bring healthy change. He had a vision and it lives on to this day. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by afterburner on April 15, 2003 at 19:34:55 PT: FoM Nice article about The Bob Marley Museum. Thanks.His spirit still inspires Kingston and Jamaica and the World.Jah Live http://www.bobmarley.com/songs/songs.cgi?jahliveJah live! children yeah! - Jah-Jah live! children yeah - Jah live! children yeah! - Jah-Jah live! children yeahThe truth is an offense but not a sin! - Is he who laugh last, children! is he who win - Is a foolish dog bark at a flying bird! - One sheep must learn, children! to respect the sheperd!Jah live! children yeah! - Jah-Jah live! children yeah - Jah live! children yeah - Jah-Jah live! children yeah, Jah!Fools sayin' in their heart - Rasta your God is dead - But I and I know Jah! Jah! - Dreaded it shall be dreaded and dreadJah live! children yeah! - Jah-Jah live! children yeah - Jah live! children yeah - Jah-Jah live! children yeahLet Jah a-rise! - Now that the enemies are scattered - Let Jah a-rise! - The enemies, the enemies are scatteredJah live! children yeah! - Jah-Jah live! children yeah - Jah live! children yeah - Jah-Jah live! ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on April 15, 2003 at 16:53:27 PT i420 That's ok. It's easy to miss them particularly when the news is busy. I just wanted you to know there was a place to comment on the article if you wanted too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by i420 on April 15, 2003 at 16:28:12 PT FoM ooops I missed it somehow FoM, thanks ! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 15, 2003 at 09:49:26 PT Related Article from The Baltimore Sun New Faith in Marley's LegacyJamaica: The Bob Marley Museum, spearheaded by a nun and scheduled to open this month, brings hope to the destitute Kingston neighborhood where he once lived. Complete Article: http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.journal15apr15,0,1118994.column?coll=bal-nationworld-utility [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on April 15, 2003 at 08:26:59 PT i420 Here you go. If you want to comment I thought I'd post the link to the article for you.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread15959.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by i420 on April 15, 2003 at 06:01:48 PT Denying drug convicts aid criticized Posted on Mon, Apr. 14, 2003 Denying drug convicts aid criticizedEducation Department enforcing provision too strictly, Souder says. Craig Linder States News ServiceWASHINGTON - Student groups, drug reformers and liberal Democrats are taking aim at a law that denies federal financial aid to college students convicted of drug violations.They're not alone. Even U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, the 3rd District Republican who wrote the law, said it needs to be changed because the U.S. Department of Education is applying it to more students than he envisioned.At issue is a provision in a 1998 measure that authorized federal support for colleges and universities. Included in the massive bill was a 277-word provision that made students who had been convicted of drug violations ineligible for federally funded financial aid for up to three years.A broad range of groups - from college financial aid administrators to activists seeking the complete legalization of drugs - said the provision is unfair because it prevents people with prior convictions from turning around their lives by going to college."It makes students leave school when they have a minor drug offense," said Ben Gaines, who heads a Drug Reform Coordination Network project seeking to repeal the provision. "We don't believe that access to higher education should be included in the war on drugs."Souder said that wasn't his intent.He wanted the provision to apply to students who were convicted of the possession or sale of controlled substances only while they were receiving financial aid - not to those students who were convicted of drug crimes before college."There are some people who should be able to get aid who aren't getting aid because of the way it's being enforced, and that's not fair," Souder spokesman Seth Becker said.About 9,000 students were declared ineligible for federal financial aid between 1998 and 2000, advocates said, citing Education Department figures. Between 2001 and 2003, however, those numbers skyrocketed to about 84,000 students.The 1998 higher-education law expires this year, and nearly everyone expects members of Congress to change the financial aid provision when they write a new version of the bill. The question, however, is what the changed provision will look like or how many students it would affect.Souder is backing a change to the financial-aid provision that he said would suspend financial aid only to college students who are convicted of drug violations while they are receiving the federal aid - essentially returning the law to his original intent."This is no different from any other scholarship. If you're on a basketball scholarship, you've got to play basketball. If you're on an academic scholarship, you've got to keep your grades up," Becker said. "If you are getting what is essentially a scholarship from the federal government, there's no reason why you shouldn't be expected to follow federal law."That proposal will probably be included in the version of the higher-education bill endorsed by the Republican leadership of the education committee, congressional aides said.But Rep. George Miller of California, who is the top Democrat on the House Education Committee, said he would push to have what he called the "unjust" financial-aid provision removed from the new higher-education bill."It sends the wrong message to students seeking to improve their lives just at the time when they need the help the most," Miller said. http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/5631063.htm http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/5631063.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on April 15, 2003 at 04:28:03 PT And another committee, and then one after that... ...Doubtful that Jamaica will do ANYTHING without DEAland approval. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment