WHILE respecting the rights of individuals to enjoy a safe and healthy environment, this column has been advocating legislative and judicial reforms in the way we treat users of marijuana (ganja) in Jamaica. In fact, this column has been bolder than just advocating common-sense amendments to the present laws that govern the cultivation, distribution and possession of the plant. It has suggested that the production and use of the weed (to qualified adults) be part of any recuperative health tourism plans we might be contemplating.

Before today ends, there are bound to be some politicians referring me to Parliament’s work on the subject or to the late Professor Barry Chevannes’ National Ganja Commission which was established in the 2000s to, among other things, “review the most up-to-date body of medical and scientific research…” on marijuana. Yet, as good as these talk shops and working groups have been, we have not moved a step closer to exercising our independence in the matter of decriminalisation and legalisation.

We are cowards, and perhaps are too beholden to the United States, Britain and Canada to act in our own best self-interest in a matter that quite frankly is none of their business, once we know how to manage the industry. Jamaica has an opportunity and an obligation (almost) to be proactive in eking out its place in what could very well become a legal and global marijuana market.

Jamaica can either continue to “spell and guess” as its uncle up North continues to make advances in changing the face of the marijuana market — state by state. It would be an ugly reality if, as a heavily indebted country, Jamaica allows our big and powerful Uncle Sam to cause us to destroy all our ganja plants as “he” wages an endless war against drugs without tackling the problem of demand in “his” own family.

That aside, though, before any serious consideration can be advanced to promote this kind of recuperative health tourism product, our government would have to get serious, by developing the requisite testicular fortitude to make urgent and far-reaching changes to some of the current criminal laws on our books specifically dealing with ganja. Suffice it to say, most of these laws are “as old as Methuselah” and should have no place in a modern society. These changes could be beneficial in many ways.

In the first instance, if the government decriminalises the possession and use of small quantities of the weed for recreational, health and religious purposes, or allows the cultivation of the weed — in designated areas — there would be an immediate decline in the number of marijuana-related court cases that clog up the court system. The police would have more time investigating, prosecuting, fighting and preventing serious crimes, and catching hardened criminals.

There is more: the country would experience some measure of economic growth as a direct result of a well-managed and properly regulated internal marijuana industry. Research and development work on the medicinal value and use of ganja would continue to attract scientific researchers from around the world; thus giving us pride of place in the lead toward discovering new drugs to treat many illnesses and diseases such as glaucoma and cancer.

The immediate economic benefits would be most evident in the reduction in rural unemployment, increases in the standard of living for many rural families and an opportunity for their children to get a decent education. According to an April 2010 CNBC television report, “Economists, reformists, law enforcement authorities and the pro-marijuana lobby have come up with a variety of estimates; when combined you’d get a range of US$10 billion to over US$120 billion a year” for the marijuana trade. Therefore, even at two per cent of the marijuana market, Jamaica would earn significantly.

The same report stated that, “On price and volume, various reports and studies conclude a typical marijuana cigarette, or joint, contains between 0.5 – 1.0 grams of the drug and can vary from US$5 to US$20. Marijuana possession became legal under state law last Thursday in Washington State, USA. Washington State’s Office of Financial Management says the measure may generate as much as US$1.9 billion in revenue over five fiscal years.”

It is not always about money, but as Mr Seaga once said, “It takes cash to care”, and as insensitive as that may have sounded then, Mr Seaga was spot on, to an extent. As a country, we must be bold in our approach to solve the problems that affect us most and we must be creative in charting our own course. If we have a product like marijuana that we can grow, sell, and manage, if we put our minds to it, then we should exploit it. The time has come for us to quit following behind people by aggressively killing our ganja plants, while they are taking steps to establish a well-organised and regulated market, albeit on a state-by-state basis.

One does not have to be a ganja smoker to understand the foolhardiness of our actions over the years as we cow-tow to the mighty hands of our northern brother. Individual states in the United States are collecting taxes from the sale of marijuana to fund education, finance infrastructure development, drug abuse programmes, and to conduct scientific research; we should begin to do the same and hop off these endless studies and chariots of inactions. The time has come to free up the weed, but we must be responsible in how we liberalise the trade, and ensure that only responsible adults have access to the weed.

Burnscg@aol.com