cannabisnews.com: HOLY SMOKE! Legalise the Weed say Church Officials HOLY SMOKE! Legalise the Weed say Church Officials Posted by FoM on July 07, 2000 at 09:08:51 PT By Tony Morrison Source: Jamaica Gleaner At least one prominent official of the Jamaican Christian community has called for the legalisation of drugs -- starting with marijuana -- and he has received cautious support from other religious leaders.The widely respected Rev. Oliver Daley of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, says it's illogical, hypocritical, and oppressive to regard ganja as an illegal substance while the jury is still out on whether it's addictive or dangerous. At the same time, he notes, it is perfectly legal to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, both of which are not only addictive, but "natural born killers".He emphasises that neither he nor the church is suddenly condoning the use of drugs, and notes that the drug trade is the single greatest threat to the fabric of society.He argues, however, that we cannot legislate morality. Not everything that is a sin should also logically be a crime, he adds.Adultery, for example, is a sin but the Reverend says it would be impractical to make it illegal, a lesson that the church has learnt over the years, and a lesson the politicians need to learn now about drugs.Bishop Robert Foster of the Moravian Church, in a guarded response to Rev. Daley's proposal, concedes that the drug war has failed, and adds that anything that would diminish the value of drugs and the related greed around it would be welcome. He concludes that the case for legalising drugs is one that should be "carefully considered.""Willing to discuss it," is the response of former Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) President Rev. Stanley Clarke, who says he would be reluctant to legalise all drugs but would consider ganja. He says "in the current Jamaican environment it is senseless to arrest someone for a spliff or for growing a plot of weed for personal use -- making a criminal out of someone for a harmless activity."In the 1999 Synod Papers of his church, Rev. Daley states the following, among other points:In spite of all the draconian laws drugs are available at any street corner in any of our communities.More people seem to die from the trade than from the use.All public officials -- courts, customs, law enforcement agencies -- are vulnerable to the corruption of the drug lords, and our society has become more dangerous to live in.Our prisons and legal system are overtaxed with the consequence of prohibition.Prohibition did not work at the start of the 20th century, and it surely is not working at the close. When things are prohibited, but retain an economic value, we tend to behave more like the beasts than like the gods.We are losing the war on drugs and a new approach must be found, one which includes using the billions of dollars being wasted on policing drugs for health, education, and rehabilitation instead. This is not only more logical, but more humane, he figures. It is also somewhat illogical, he agrees, that the very people employed to stamp out the drug trade are themselves in effect sustained by the trade. "If illegal drugs were to disappear these law enforcement officials would be rendered irrelevant and out of a job."This situation diminishes the moral authority of many of those employed to wage war against drugs.Rev. Daley concedes, however, that it might be difficult for Jamaica to legalise cocaine without the collaboration of other countries, since we are only a small part of the trade and the politics around it. But, "where ganja is concerned, where we are a major supplier, and where it is a substance bearing cultural and religious relevance to some in our society," he believes we would be well within both rights and reason to free up the weed. Tony Morrison Published: July 7, 2000©Copyright 2000 Gleaner Company Ltd. Related Articles:Jamaica Mulls Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread2612.shtmlJamaica: Lawmakers Consider Decriminalizing Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread2278.shtmlJamaican Senate Debate Creating Marijuana Commissionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread2182.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by Thierry on June 16, 2001 at 21:42:45 PT marijuana "Marijuana Use and Mortality" April 1997 American Journal of Public Health""Relatively few adverse clinical effects from the chronic use of marijuana have been documented in humans.However,the criminalization of marijuana use may itself be a health hazard,since it may expose the users to violence and criminal activity".April 1997 American Journal of Public Health [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Thierry on June 16, 2001 at 21:37:44 PT ganja "Findings from the present long-term,follow-up study of heavy,habitual marijuana smokers argue against the concept that continuing heavy use of marijuana is a significant risk factor for the development of chronic lung disease....Neither the continuing nor the intermittent marijuana smokers exhibited any significantly different rates of decline in lung function as compared with those individuals who never smoked marijuana."Vol.155 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,Dr D.P.TashkinResearch at the University of California School of Medicine(UCLA) [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Thierry on June 16, 2001 at 21:29:02 PT ganja "Cannabis is remarkedly safe.Although not harmless,it is surely less toxic than most of the conventional medicines it could replace if it were legally available.Despite its use by millions of people over thousands of years,cannabis has never caused an overdose death"Professor Lester Grinspoon,M.D.,Harvard Medical School [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Thierry on June 16, 2001 at 21:18:59 PT marijuana There is no sin whatsoever in smoking ganja.The bible makes no implications that smoking it is a sin at all anywhere in it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Thierry on June 16, 2001 at 21:16:51 PT marijuana prohibition A man/mankind can not render illegal a plant.Man just does not have the authority to do so.Man depends on plants to live. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ras Ed Forchion - on July 08, 2000 at 21:02:28 PT: Religious use of marijuana THE TRENTONIAN - http://www.trentonian.com TRENTON NJ (March 17th, 2000) A man protesting drugs laws lit a marijuana cigarette in the state's Assembly chambers. BY JEFF EDELSTEIN -Staff Writer The smell of marijuana smoke wafted through the state's Assembly chambers Thursday afternoon after a man protesting his religious rights fired up a joint. Edward "njweedman" Forchion, 35, stripped down to a halloween prison suit outfit before pulling the stunt. "I'm not a criminal. The laws is wrong" he procliamed as he was being led away by NJ State Police. Forchion, a browns Mills residence who goes by the nickname "njweedman" said he is a practitioner of the Rastafari religion and that marijuana is a necessary sacrament to its practice. Before he was arrested, Forchion said outside the chamber that he has grown tires of watching two religious freedom bills languish in the Assembly and the Senate. The Assembly bill, introduced before the 1998 session, does not allow for any controlled substance to be used as part of religion; the Senate bill, introduced last December, does not contian the restrictive language. Forchion lit the reefer after Assembly-floor St. Patrick's Day festivities, including a speech by former Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty. Rafferty said that when the irish and other ethnic groups first came to America, they were oppressed by the powers that be. "Without sprit, without resolve, you can't overcome," Rafferty said, unintentionally providing Forchion with a poetic and prophetic introduction. After Forchion started puffing away, people started frantically waving to police officers. Some what incredibly, Forchion got through half the joint before the police swooped in - and then he promptly swallowed it. "I assume that was marijuana," said one of the officer's outside the chambers. "NO COMMENT," replied Forchion, who was arrested, charged with use of marijuana, hindering apprehension and improper behavior and release pending a March 24 hearing in Trenton Municipal Court. This was not the first time that Forchion used marijuana to get into the public eye. In 1998, he ran an unsuccessful bid for Congress, running under the "legalize Marijuana Party" ticket. Somewhat improbably, he received over 3,000 votes. The herb "ganja" is a religious sacrament," Forchion said in a prepared text. "Much the sameway the grape (wine) is to Christian/Catholic." Forchion said he became a convert to the religion of Rastafari six years ago. "If I became a born-again Christian, everybody would think I was a great guy." Forchion said. "But I embraced Rastafari and in doing so I became a criminal." ------ Ed Forchion - website- http://www.tlmp.org ALSO Listen to Ed Forchion Real-Player Audio interveiws Night Raven Radio-http://internettrash.com/users/xl/ed.ram WBUZ420 -http://www.wbuz420.com/tt991029.html The Legalize Marijuana Party [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on July 07, 2000 at 10:03:37 PT Choose None of The Oppressor's Ways He argues, however, that we cannot legislate morality. Not everything that is a sin should also logically be a crime, he adds.Excellent point!Moreover, using cannabis isn't implicitly or explicitly listed as a "sin", according to the Bible. Many drug warriors have a hard time understanding this point. Ask such people when, exactly, using cannabis became a sin... Either they cannot tell you, or will claim that when "the government" made it illegal, it then became sin. (Circular reasoning, especially when discussing its legal status: "MJ use is a sin because it's illegal; and illegal because it is a sin.") If they claim that it was always a sin, then ask them if Queen Victoria was sinning when she used cannabis to ease menstrual cramps...If they claim it was always a sin, then ask them if it was a "sin" for Robert Burton the English clergyman to have recommended cannabis for depression in the Anatomy of Melancholy (1621). Let's hear their tortured reasoning on this matter.Why is it a sin for people to grow their own cannabis, and use it for "melancholy"? Whi is it not a sin to take Compazine or Haldol, say (which have permanent, irreversable side-effects like Tardive Diskinesia, for example, and cause demonstrable brain damage). Why is using cannabis a sin, but using Haldol not a sin? Do such people really believe that "sin" is defined by politicians? The existence of automobiles? (I.e. "MJ use is a sin because you could wreck a car.") Scratch the surface of such reasoning: you'll find prejudice, not God's word.Do such men of God shut up, and repent; or is their morality greater than that of Jesus, who never recommended stealing from, killing and destroying drug users? Rev. Oliver Daley is to be commended for going against the tide of poltical corectness, and speaking out about this oppression. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. (Proverbs)Other so-called "men of God" need to stop playing cheerleader for oppressors also. Hemp FACT #21-Marijuana Myths [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: