cannabisnews.com: Rastas Should Be Able To Use Ganja as Sacrament





Rastas Should Be Able To Use Ganja as Sacrament
Posted by CN Staff on March 21, 2004 at 12:59:10 PT
By Balford Henry, Observer Writer
Source: Jamaica Observer 
The Joint Select Committee which considered the recommendations of the National Commission on Ganja has recommended that the laws be amended to allow Rastafarians to use small quantities of ganja for "sacramental purposes".But the committee acknowleged that implementing the recommendation could present a challenge, "for under existing international conventions, as signed by the Government of Jamaica, it was not possible to decriminalise the use of ganja for sacramental purposes".
In a companion recommendation, it suggested that Jamaica begins an international campaign to revise the International Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) so as to address the local situation with respect to the religious use of the ganja plant, Cannabis Sativa.The recommendations were included in the report from the committee which was finally tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.The report said that the chairman of the National Commission on Ganja, University of the West Indies sociologist, Barry Chevannes, had informed the committee that his commission's recommendation was based on the conclusion that Rastafarians held a sincere belief in ganja's sacramental value, "and were not merely trying to justify simple use", so their religious rights ought to be respected.The committee recommended further that Jamaica's permanent representative (Sharon Hay-Webster) to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific/European Union states, be furnished with the relevant documents to allow her to make representation on the re-examination of the international conventions at that forum."In particular, we recommend that a case be made for Rastafarians to be exempted under Article 32 of the Convention on Psychotroipic Substances, 1971, which protects religious use of substances prohibited under that treaty," the Select Committee said.This was in response to the commission's proposal that, as a matter of great urgency, Jamaica should embark on diplomatic initiatives with its Caricom partners and other countries outside the region, in particular members of the European Union, with a view to: (a) elicit support for its internal position; and (b) to influence the international community to re-examine the status of Cannabis.In terms of the proposal from the commission, "that the relevant laws be amended so that ganja be decriminalised for the private, personal use of small quantities by adults", the committee recommended that the Dangerous Drugs Act be amended so that the use of small quantities of ganja in public, "be made a minor offence to be tried in petty sessions of the Resident Magistrate's Court".The committee also recommended that the criminal records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act be amended, "to ensure that these minor offences not be recorded".On the commission's proposal that, "decriminalisation for personal use should exclude smoking by juveniles, or by anyone in premises accessible to the public", the committee recommended that where minors are found using ganja, the child and care-giver be referred to counselling and effective, appropriate action be taken to discourage further use by the child, in keeping with provisions related to tobacco and alcohol under the Child Care and Protection Act.In terms of smoking in public places, the committee said that in cases where persons break the law by smoking ganja in premises accessible to the public, the owner of the premises be subject to the relevant penalties, be it a fine or any other sanction.The committee was chaired by Dr Morais Guy and included MPs Dr Patrick Harris, Sharon Hay-Webster, Richard Azan, Ralston Hanson, Dr Donald Rhodd, Mike Henry, Delroy Chuck, Dr Kenneth Baugh and Clive Mullings, as well as senators Navel Clarke, Floyd Morris, Dr Trevor Munroe, Kern Spencer, Dorothy Lightbourne and Shirley Williams. Secretary was Tracey Heron.Complete Title: House Committee Says Rastas Should Be Able To Use Ganja as SacramentSource: Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)Author: Balford Henry, Observer WriterPublished: Sunday, March 21, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Jamaica Observer Ltd.Contact: editorial jamaicaobserver.comWebsite: http://www.jamaicaobserver.comRelated Articles:Minor Victory for Ganja Smokers?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18339.shtmlEase Up for Ganja - Recommendations Set http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18195.shtmlA Rational Decision on Marijuana, Please http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17959.shtmlJamaica: Go Easy on Ganja Users, Says Report http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17919.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #7 posted by rchandar on March 26, 2004 at 13:51:38 PT:
jamaica's ganja commission
we can't legalize marijuana because it's illegal. we can't modify the international treaties because God (The US Government) said so. Simple. Life is bulls#$t, the Drug War is bulls %t, and legally speaking, we're not supposed to have any fun.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by rchandar on March 26, 2004 at 13:48:23 PT:
jamaica's ganja commission
Virgil--hmmm, yeah. The whole concept of democracy is kinda out on this one. Change the international treaties? Scandal!Who would dare think that such usurpations of national sovereignty could ever be CHANGED? such a heretical thought. the people have rights, they're not being honored, that's all.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by afterburner on March 23, 2004 at 15:15:58 PT:
Prepare to Be Dazzled
Pete Brady In Jamaica
The Greatest Grows with Pete Brady http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2573.html
 
Running Time: 46 min 
Date Entered: 19 Mar 2004 "Pete, on location in Jamaica interviews Docta, a dread rasta gowing sensemillia in the hills, and tours green fields.
Joined by The Bubble Man, he examines some of the most potent hashish in the west, and witnesses wild spring break beach action." 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Virgil on March 23, 2004 at 08:33:32 PT
Worthy reading from Cannabis Culture
This link needs to appear with every story coming out of Jamaica- http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2407.htmlThe US put a naval and aerial blockade around Jamaica during the 1970's and 80's, unsuccessfully seeking to interdict megatons of baled and bricked Jamaican weed, much of which was being offloaded along Florida's coastline.During this period, America provided millions of dollars in funding for the Jamaican government's counter-narcotics efforts. According to the US State Department, America "has provided more counter-narcotics assistance to Jamaica than to any other Caribbean country." 
US officials have long complained that Jamaicans were making a half-hearted effort to eradicate ganja. They allege that the country is the Caribbean's biggest producer and exporter of ganja and a major transit country for cocaine destined for the US and other international markets.In 1999, the US halved its financial support of Jamaica's anti-marijuana efforts, in part because the Jamaican government used "cutter teams" rather than herbicides and other poisons that the US uses domestically and in places like Colombia.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Virgil on March 22, 2004 at 19:08:29 PT
NarcoNews, Haiti, and Jamaica
Jamaica and Venezuela do not recognize the illegitimate leader that replaced Aristide. In this link at NarcoNews it says that Jamaica and Haiti are 100 miles apart. LaTortue has withdrawn from the 13 nations in Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and withdrew Haiti's ambassador from Jamaica- http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2004/3/12/203759/782
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Virgil on March 21, 2004 at 18:13:53 PT
Aristide in Jamaica
Search results at Google will change with time- http://tinyurl.com/3armwHere is a copy of three search results that may have archival value- BBC Caribbean
Haiti's new prime minister said the news of exiled President Aristide's
visit to Jamaica has increased tensions in Haiti. ... 
www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2004/ 03/040312_latortue-jamaica.shtml - 25k - Cached - Similar pages Haiti fears Aristide's Jamaica visit. 13/03/2004. ABC News Online
... 11:00am (AEDT). Haiti fears Aristide's Jamaica visit. ... He has pledged that he will
try to make Aristide's stay in Jamaica as short as possible," Mr Latortue said. ... 
www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1065251.htm - 28k - Cached - Similar pages FindLaw Legal News - US Criticizes Aristide's Jamaica Visit
... US Criticizes Aristide's Jamaica Visit. By Saul Hudson. ... The new Haitian
government is concerned Aristide's visit to Jamaica may stir dissent. ... 
news.findlaw.com/politics/s/20040317/haitiusadc.html - 46k - Cached - Similar pages 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Virgil on March 21, 2004 at 17:58:32 PT
The dilemma of Congressional Nazis
The US saw that Aristide of Haiti could not work for the public good as they saw him removed from office and Haiti. He went to Africa and Jamaica has recently flown him back for Jamaican sanctuary, much to the displeasure of the Congressional Nazis. There are those that immediately spoke of ending foreign aid, but then they realize that if they cut aid, there would be not control over Jamaica being the first country to withdrawal from the US policy that is strongarmed by the UN. What a dilemma. Here they have Aristide in the country that now presides over the Carribean Union telling about the ways of the Americans and the Drug Gods that actually used Haiti as a transportation hub for cocaine in its eventual conversion to gold in America.We see the UN treaties mentioned again as if they are somehow cemented into a path of insanity, which they are not. It is damning to the media that there is not a counterpoint made by another authority that says such reasoning is no reasoning at all but propaganda from yet another parrot of the prohibitionists.The Jamaican media sucks as well as the political powers that continue GP (Ganja Prohibition).
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment