cannabisnews.com: Rastafarians Struggle With Discrimination 





Rastafarians Struggle With Discrimination 
Posted by CN Staff on July 15, 2003 at 13:54:28 PT
By Stevenson Jacobs, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Associated Press
Kingston, Jamaica -- Their dreadlocked image and marijuana-laced mysticism are used to promote Jamaica as a tranquil tourist destination yet Rastafarians say they're treated as second-class citizens at home. The religion isn't officially recognized in Jamaica, which means marriages can't be legally performed and places of worship aren't tax exempt. Rastas also say their traditional appearance and ritual use of marijuana has kept them from getting decent jobs. 
``They put a wire fence around us so that when we reach for opportunities we get scraped,'' said Pato Solo, a 33-year-old attending the International Rastafari Conference, which begins Wednesday and is drawing followers from the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. Fueled by anger over the colonial oppression of blacks, descendants of African slaves started the religion in Jamaica during the 1930s. Its message of peaceful coexistence, marijuana use and African repatriation was popularized in the 1970s through reggae artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. An estimated 700,000 people practice the faith worldwide but the government of Jamaica can't say with certainty how many of its 2.6 million people are Rastas. ``We can't walk free, we can't talk free ... We're still under bondage,'' said Radcliffe Boyd, 33, who claims he had his wrist broken by police three years ago after being caught with marijuana. He paid a small fine, as do most Rastas arrested for marijuana use. Penalties range from fines of less than $2 to six months in jail. Rastafarians say they're blamed for crime in Jamaica and looked down upon for their use of marijuana, which followers believe brings them closer to God. Some sects believe their god is deceased Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Few Rastas are employed in the formal sector in Jamaica. Officials say they don't discriminate, but admit they would rather hire someone who is clean-cut and sober. Lansford Haughton, 51, said he was refused work at a post office: ``They said, 'you have to groom yourself,''' he said. ``I told them, 'This is my faith.''' One of the religion's tenets is staying close to nature, which can mean not combing or cutting one's hair. Police spokeswoman Ionie Ramsay-Nelson raised another question: ``It's a safety issue. Sometimes we have to use firearms and if somebody takes a smoke they might just do whatever their mind tells them to and start shooting. It's a concern.'' Rastas say using the drug doesn't affect their performance. ``Ganja makes me focus more, said Robert Gardner, 32, saying marijuana users are not ``like crack addicts or alcoholics.'' The treatment of Rastas isn't much better elsewhere in the Caribbean. The British Virgin Islands in 1980 banned Rastas from setting foot in the territory. Several groups are trying to repeal the law. It's still on the books, though Rasta visitors are not turned away but complain of harassment at the airport. In Grenada last year, prison officials told four Rastafarian inmates they would have to cut their dreadlocks to prevent disease and the smuggling of contraband. A court challenge is pending. Discrimination hasn't stopped some from cashing in on the faith, whose colors of red, green and gold earn millions in sales of T-shirts, shoes and the crocheted tams into which they tuck their hair. Television ads woo tourists with white-sand beaches and friendly Rastas to the rhythm of the famous Marley anthem ``One Love.'' ``It's a mockery. They use us like a style, a fashion,'' said Solo, who plans to bring up his concerns at the conference. One invited guest who won't be attending is Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. He declined because of a scheduling conflict, said his spokesman Huntley Medley. Howard Hamilton, Jamaica's public defender, said it's time for the country to fully recognize it's homegrown religion, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament. ``They have paid their dues,'' said Hamilton. Politicians have promised to explore decriminalizing marijuana. Rastas aren't holding their breath, so to speak. ``America, England, Japan, that's where we get respect, not Jamaica,'' said Boyd, grinding bits of the lime-green herb. ``Jamaicans don't want to know about their culture.'' Source: Associated PressAuthor: Stevenson Jacobs, Associated Press Writer Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related 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 
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Comment #5 posted by RevHappy on July 16, 2003 at 08:45:16 PT:
Just Do It
So unless we, as devoted potsmokers, stand up for what we already have, the mood will tend toward "Yeah Right" instead of "Of Course!"You betcha every letter, every speech, every contact includes SOMETHING about "The JAH given herb" I stood up at city council and demanded we stop supporting the local drug task force because they are terrorizing "good people, patients, and those just practicing their faith"Make them know, loud and clear, that you DO have a right to religious use, and ARE excercising it.
Check Out The July AMMMO News
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Comment #4 posted by paulpeterson on July 16, 2003 at 07:36:57 PT
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
Just remember how helpful the Rasta's have been in this nation. Twice, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has announced that the RFRA of 93 gives 
Rasta's the right to possess and use cannabis on federal grounds (Bauer, 96 & Guerrera, 2002).Just checking in. Paul
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on July 16, 2003 at 04:19:19 PT:
And that's why so many Rastas are in the US
But they don't have a better time of it here, either.I know one who is a top-flight mechanic. He was working late in his shop when he was attacked by a K-9 dog that was let in the place by police who thought he was a burglar. (The lights were on, he was moving about the place with no attempt at subterfuge, just doing his job like anybody in this economy that has required so much unpaid overtime.) His right arm was bit half way through. He was then taken to hospital, where he was *denied medical care by the cop until he signed a form stating he had not been brutalized by the police*. This happened in PG County in the State of Maryland a few years back. PG County is not known for it's police having much sense regarding K9 usage; they've caught hell for allowing their animals loose and attacking the innocent before. And they average a suspect shooting death a month. Not a good place for a Black face...All because of the way they look...and some Rastas don't smoke. What was it ML King said about wanting to be judged by the content of character, not color of skin?
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Comment #2 posted by Virgil on July 15, 2003 at 15:35:00 PT
Big news on MS front
From http://www.wkbw.com/health/health.asp#2New drug for MS
July 15, 2003 
About two million Americans suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that currently has no cure. Doctors are now testing a drug that will add an effective new form of therapy to what is currently available.Art Coscuna is a big football fan. Three years ago he was forced to put his playing dreams on the shelf.Art Coscuna: “I was just walking and all of a sudden, my right foot, and up my right side, went numb and I just stopped and said, ‘This isn’t right.’ I turned to go back to my car and I collapsed.” Art has MS, a disease in which the immune system attacks nerves, affecting muscles, coordination and balance. Medications are limited in controlling the disease. Art’s neurologist, doctor Marco Rizzo enrolled him in a study on an experimental drug called Antegren. Marc Rizzo, M.D., Ph.D.: “The hypothesis is that this antibody keeps the immune system from entering the spinal cord and brain and wreaking destruction.”On an M-R-I, the brain of a healthy person appears uniformly gray. The M-R-I of a person with MS has white spots, lesions from inflammation and scarring that result in nerve damage. Marco Rizzo, M.D., Ph.D.: “Those patients on the drug Antegren had significant improvement in M-R-I scans compared to those patients who received placebo.”That’s good news for Art.Art Coscuna: “They said, ‘It will take time. It will come back. The nerves got to find a new route to run, but it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.’”Antegren is part of a new class of drugs that is being tested for treating both Multiple Sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. Both are diseases thought to be the result of a malfunctioning immune system.
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 15, 2003 at 14:14:28 PT
Marijuana as a colony
"Television ads woo tourists with white-sand beaches and friendly Rastas to the rhythm of the famous Marley anthem ``One Love.''``It's a mockery. They use us like a style, a fashion,'' said Solo, who plans to bring up his concerns at the conference.
"It has long been a habit of colonialism for the colonizing culture to mine the cultural assets of the colonized culture to decorate their own stagnant culture of power and conformity to power.That is why we have Pier 1, where people of European descent can dress up their suburban homes in knick knacks and faux artifacts from the third world countries that used to be European colonies.Jamaica is colonizing the Rasta culture, taking the cultural treasures of reggae and Bob Marley and using them to decorate the Jamaican self-image while literally putting Marley's followers into bondage.America mainstream culture has colonized jazz and rock.Louis Armstrong's music decorates the American mainstream musical self-image like no other.Meanwhile, the man himself was subjected to the indignity, discomfort and threat to his physical health of doing time in the LA County jail, just for smoking a joint after a show.
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