cannabisnews.com: ''Legalize it,'' Jamaican Pro-Marijuana Groups Say ''Legalize it,'' Jamaican Pro-Marijuana Groups Say Posted by FoM on June 30, 1999 at 18:26:53 PT Source: CNN KINGSTON, Jamaica For many, Jamaica conjures up an image of the late reggae icon Bob Marley bathed in a thick cloud of marijuana smoke. Planeloads of visitors flock to the Caribbean island to soak up Marley's music and to try the "ganja" so beloved by its favorite son and his fellow Rastafarians, who smoke the plant as part of their religious practice. Despite the marketing pop the island got from Marley's penchant for fat marijuana cigarettes, affectionately referred to as "spliffs," the mood-enhancing plant is an illegal substance in Jamaica. Get caught with it, no matter how little, and you face penalties ranging from fines to jail time. Now, two decades after Marley's former bandmate Peter Tosh demanded "Legalize it" in a famous song, the pro-ganja lobby is stirring again, emboldened by what it says are changing attitudes in island society and missed profit opportunities. Robe- and turban-clad members of the Bobo Dread Rastafarian sect, legalization advocate Dr. Ronald Lampart and a smattering of government representatives were among three dozen people who turned out for the inaugural meeting of the National Alliance to Legalize Ganja in a ballroom of the Kingston Hilton. The group declared a campaign to legalize recreational and other uses of marijuana, called "cannabis" in scientific circles and "pot" by aficionados. The alliance wants Jamaicans to decide whether to remove ganja from the country's list of illegal drugs in a national referendum, Louis Moyston, a businessman who heads the new group, said. TIDE TURNING FOR POT? Barbara Blake Hannah, a journalist and prominent member of the alliance, is confident the tide is turning in their favor. "New players have come in, persons who don't even smoke ganja, some with human rights positions, some from the position of economic development, and from the medicinal perspective, and this is perhaps what will make this campaign more successful," she said. Senior Parliamentary Ombudsman Howard Hamilton, who attended the event, said the latest effort comes at a time "when the entire world is recognizing the increased value of marijuana from a medicinal point of view." Hamilton recommended the alliance first promote the medicinal value of the plant. Minister of Commerce and Technology Phillip Paulwell recently announced a plan to investigate the use of industrial hemp, a non-mood-altering variety of the cannabis plant. Alliance's supporters like to point to the work of Jamaican researchers Manley West and Dr. Albert Belville Lockhard who have developed prescription drugs from different varieties of the pot plant. Among them are Canasol for glaucoma, asmasol for asthmatics and canavert, a treatment for motion sickness. The drugs have been licensed for use in many countries but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has so far refused to follow suit. But the legalization movement has hit a wall at Jamaica's Health Ministry. Its director John Junor does not support the new effort and has no plans to look into other possible medicinal uses for marijuana. LEGALIZATION GROUP 'WASTING THEIR TIME' Members of Jamaica's anti-drug lobby, in concert with Minister of National Security and Justice K.D. Knight, also have voiced strong opposition. "The people in this lobby group are wasting their time and money. They should educate the public on the dangers of the drug," Edgerton Newman, head of a Kingston-based coalition against drug abuse, said. "Over 22,000 of our young people in high schools are using marijuana and most of them can't even write or read because the use of marijuana distorts the minds of students. They are the ones turning to guns and violence," Newman said. In October, Jamaica's lobby against decriminalizing ganja got a boost from U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, who cautioned that such an action would only intensify the drug problem. Alliance activist Blake Hannah said opponents are missing the group's message. The marijuana lobby is "not about legalizing its use for recreation or for minors. We're talking about the economic benefits of a plant which can be used for many other purposes," she said. "The new movement is about seizing opportunity. The country that has the world's best ganja is not yet on the economic bandwagon." Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by rose on April 04, 2001 at 10:30:46 PT: ganja... its great for your mind, soul, and body!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by paul on June 20, 2000 at 04:45:46 PT: canasol frank,http://www.setarnet.aw/commercepage/curaderm/ e' them, they'll tell you how to get it here in the us.bon chance [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by frank on April 02, 2000 at 11:09:05 PT: where? Where can I obtain canasol for the use in hypertension? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by cannabis bob on March 28, 2000 at 05:35:05 PT cannabis I love It [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Jennifer Jolly on January 11, 2000 at 11:30:05 PT: important Will you please send me your opinion about marijuana? I am doing a report on making marijuana legal and I need some help. send it to... 872 Elizabeth Drive Lancaster Ohio 43130 Thank you for your time! Jennifer L. 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