THE EDITOR, Sir:
I READ the April 29, 2005, Letter of the Day published in your newspaper entitled, 'Ganja-based potential cited'.
I agree with what this letter states about the economic potential that the people of Jamaica have before them and I would encourage your government to implement the recommendations of the Chevannes National Commission on Ganja.
There is another issue that should be included in this debate but the subject is usually side-stepped or avoided all together.
It has to do with an individual's fundamental right of freedom of conscience and religion. Our Canadian constitution, like many others in this world, guarantees that each individual has the fundamental freedom of conscience and religion. This freedom of religion is 'subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.'
I was raised as a Christian and found that there is truth in what I was taught but I also found that some of the traditional beliefs passed on just didn't make any sense.
In my walk through this life I have been fortunate to cross paths with people that are truly good, loving, spiritually connected beings even though their belief system or religion was different than mine. I was raised to believe that there was only one way to make the spiritual connection with the God of all and that is just the way it is. My education and life experiences have taught me something else.
It now stands to reason that if God is the same for all people, in all generations and in all places then there must be a way to make the spiritual connection with God that is not dependant on one's belief system.
FORM OWN BELIEFS
Who am I to judge anyone for believing something different than me? It is much easier to follow the established beliefs and opinions of others than it is to form our own based on factual knowledge and personal experience.
There is compelling evidence that exists in referenced literature indicating that cannabis has been used, without restrictions, since the beginning of recorded time and that it is one of the ingredients found in the holy anointing oil of YHWH, as recorded in Exodus 30:23-24. The holy oil was an integral part of both Judaism and early Christianity but its use seems to have been changed and even dropped altogether over time.
Cannabis is still used today by groups like the Rastafarians and Ethiopian Coptics as well as many individuals worldwide that understand the spiritual connection between this plant and ourselves.
I am, etc.,
DAVID E.
(Sunshine Coast, B.C.)
davide@dccnet.com
P.O. Box 473
Gibsons, B.C., Canada
