KINGSTON, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for North West St Ann, Dr Dayton Campbell, criticised efforts to decriminalise ganja (marijuana) in Jamaica, in a debate on the issue in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“The government should be keen to educate the public on the usage of marijuana and the effect it has on the economy, as well as on an individual’s health and on the whole society at large, in evaluating certain factors such as violent crimes, drug addiction, economic constraints and exorbitant health bills stemming from drug addiction,” said Campbell, a young medical doctor who has represented the governing People’s National Party (PNP) in the House since December, 2011.

“Moreover the Jamaican government must decide whether morals, values, stability of the state are worth renouncing for the marijuana dollar,” he added.

In a departure from the popular direction being taken by both sides of the Parliament, towards decriminalising the use of ganja, Campbell valiantly made his point, noting that he was speaking from family and community experiences.

“If marijuana should be decriminalised, the government must be mindful of the dangers of the drugs and the potential effects it may have on our children, who are considered as our future generation, in that marijuana would have been readily available for the use and abuse,” Campbell told the House.

“As a nation, we should take the necessary steps to protect our children and not to expose them to illicit drugs, which are scientifically proven to be addictive,” he stated.

Dr Campbell was speaking on a private members motion brought by his colleague first time government MP, Raymond Pryce (North East St Elizabeth) asking Parliament to debate the practicality, as a human rights issue, for the possession for personal use of a prescribed amount of ganja for which there would be no criminal prosecution.

Relying heavily on the 2011 report of the Ganja Commission, which was chaired by the late Dr Barry Chevannes, Pryce argued that there is a “wider and deeper” body of scientific evidence now available as to the “positive medical, therapeutic and research relevance of cannabis and its many derivatives”.

He said that, based on the present “criminal regime” towards ganja, the country has lost decades of research and product development which could have been coordinated by a research agency, as recommended by Chevannes.

“But that reality begs the question: What prevents us in Jamaica from optimising our academic and economic potential in legal cultivation and research of a plant, which has been a part of Jamaica’s natural history and heritage for the better part of the last two centuries,” he said.

Balford Henry