Dear Editor,

The ongoing situation of arresting, locking up and giving those convicted for the smoking and possession of ganja a criminal record is senseless, cruel and unjust and can only be deemed a wicked act of the Jamaican State over the decades.

This has led to the ruin and destruction of many Jamaican lives, the latest being Mario Deane, a 31-year-old male, murdered while in police custody at the Barnett Street Police Lock-up earlier this week.

This situation, in today’s 2014, is an indictment against the State, the Parliament, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and the justice system.

The Government, through Parliament, has the authority and can immediately declare an amnesty on all arrests for uncompressed ganja under one pound in weight until the announced reforms are put in place, while drastically increasing the penalties for all those persons arrested and convicted for the illegal exportation of ganja from Jamaica. This has been our open and declared position from 1999 (NALG).

National Alliance for the Legalisation of Ganja &

Ganja Future Growers and Producers Association

gfgpa.jamaica@gmail.com