The Jamaican Senate is considering legislation that would make the possession of small amounts of marijuana a non-criminal offense and establish a research center to study the drug’s medical potential.
“It cannot be right and it cannot be just to continue to criticize Jamaicans for private, personal use of [marijuana,] while more toxic substances, namely alcohol and cigarettes, used in public in excessive quantities attract no criminal sanction,” said Sen. Trevor Munroe (Independent), who is backing both measures.
A Joint Select Committee of Parliament first recommended Jamaica decriminalize marijuana in 1977. That committee also endorsed allowing doctors to legally prescribe marijuana. Parliament failed to enact either recommendation.
Senator Munroe’s motion would establish a similar government committee to study the marijuana issue.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
