Stephen Vasciannie
"Drawer n. 2 lidless boxlike storage compartment, sliding in and out of a desk, dresser, etc." (Oxford Desk Dictionary, 1995).
I'VE RECENTLY been searching through my drawers (see definition above). It all happened one day at work, when I was thinking about resignation, that is, about how we resign ourselves to various things as we grow older. Some people give up the fight, and allow the undeserving to prevail.
GANJA PAPERS
In my drawers, I found several ganja papers (that is, papers about ganja). The Daily Mail of December 1, 2005, was in one corner. The headline reads: "Cannabis Free-For-All", and the story, written in the Daily Mail's breathlessly compact style, indicates that ganja users in Britain "could be allowed to carry enough ganja to make six joints a day for a year without being touched by the law." Remember that in 2004 Britain downgraded ganja, so that persons caught with it now get a formal warning for having ganja for personal use, but they are no longer subject to arrest in normal cases.
So, in Britain, you don't end up in the joint for having a joint. The point of the Daily Mail story, however, is that under a proposal made public last December you would be immune from arrest if you had on your possession up to 17 ounces of ganja. According to the Daily Mail, 17 ounces is enough to make 2,410 spliffs. These spliffs must be quite light, but they are apt, nonetheless, to produce a certain light-headedness, one assumes.
There followed in my drawers, the Sunday Gleaner editorial, dated November 27 last year, under the heading "Ganja and Crime". The editorial mentions, inter alia, the views of Dr. De La Haye, director of the detoxification unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies and president of the Psychiatric Association of Jamaica. Given De La Haye's view to the effect that ganja use may be a major contributing factor in crime and violence in Jamaica, the editor calls for a "renewed debate about marijuana".
POOH POOH
But there were a number of important responses to Dr. De La Haye coming from on high. Professor Chevannes, chairman of the Ganja Commission, responded in The Gleaner of November 29, pointing out, among other things, that ganja was criminalised for the first time in 1912 as a result of a "baseless rumour that it was the cause of male East Indians murdering their wives."
Professor Chevannes, whose report for the commission merits careful reading, then pooh poohs - at least slightly -- the suggestion that ganja use is linked to the murderous rage of a significant portion of Jamaica's youth. He does this by suggesting that there should be more research on the effect of ganja in this area, and by suggesting further that such research should also be carried out with respect to "Kentucky Fried Chicken, water, Bigga, callaloo, ackee and saltfish, Guinness, crack-cocaine and all other substances" that young people eat daily. I believe this is called a reduction ad absurdum.
I also find a letter in the drawer from Paul Armentano of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Mr. Armentano's letter to The Gleaner indicated that no "credible research" has found a causal link between ganja use and aggression. So, The Gleaner has got its renewed debate in a small way, but it seems inconclusive. I am inclined, however, to be guided by the president of the Psychiatric Association of Jamaica on this issue.
HOME OFFICE
In a drawer with more recent material, however, I find a statement on ganja, dated January 19, 2006, from the British Home Office. The statement indicates, among other things, that:
"Cannabis is potentially harmful with short-term risks to physical health";
The use of cannabis "significantly increases the chances of developing chronic bronchitis and poses a potential lung cancer risk";
"We (the British Government) accept the growing body of research which suggests that cannabis may exacerbate or even trigger a range of serious mental health problems including schizophrenia";
"The mental health effects of cannabis are real and significant"; and
For the foregoing reasons, "possession of cannabis remains punishable by up to 2 years in prison".
Britain, a kind of model for us, has been blowing hot and cold on ganja. But the more recent statement in my drawer suggests that Her Majesty's Government will certainly not resign itself to legalising ganja anytime soon.
Stephen Vasciannie is a professor at the University of the West Indies and a consultant in the attorney-general's chambers.
