Jamaica: Ganja and crime (shocking new suggestion that pot may be related to crime in some way)

The Jamaica Gleaner ^ | November 27, 2005

[Stoat]

Ganja and crime
published: Sunday | November 27, 2005

The scientific debate in Jamaica about the dangers of marijuana use is often obfuscated by a subtle cultural bias based in part on a support of Rastafarians who claim that the herb is a sacramental part of their religious practice, but also by years of its use in folk medicine.

Now comes Dr. Winston De La Haye, director of the detoxification unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies and president of the Psychiatry Association of Jamaica, who believes that the use of ganja may well be a major contributing cause to the level of crime and violence in the society.

Dr. De La Haye points out that marijuana contains tetrahydro cannabinol which has been proven to exacerbate aggressive behaviour. If this is so, and given the wide use of ganja in Jamaica, the doctor's warning certainly deserves serious consideration and further objective assessment.

He contends that the drug can drive a person mad and, with understandable prudence, asks: Why take a chance?

We note that Professor Fred Hickling, another respected expert, while not disagreeing with Dr. De La Haye's bottom line warning about the dangers of using the drug, defuses the argument by listing a number of other social causes of violence such as poverty and despair, a position that can readily be conceded without in any way detracting from what might be a significant breakthrough in lessening the degree of violence in Jamaica.

Other causes of violence there may well be, but if smoking ganja is like throwing gasolene on smouldering coals, the unequivocal condemnation of its use may be worth trying, backed up with a strong public education campaign to bring home to the populace, especially the youngsters, that by smoking ganja, they may be playing with fire in more ways than one.

This suggestion runs counter to the present popular attitude that the use of ganja should be decriminalised, supported by the recommendations of the National Commission on Ganja which was set up in November 2000.

But in light of Dr. De La Haye's pronouncement, a renewed debate about marijuana use would seem to be in order, one that is non-emotional and focused, not on the general question of whether marijuana is good or bad, but whether it is indeed a contributory cause to violent behaviour.

Certainly there has developed in Jamaica an almost knee-jerk violent reaction to 'dissing' or other relatively minor provocations which needs some explanation. Dr. De La Haye has provided one such possible reason and we think his warning should be heeded.

[muawiyah]

All the Jamaicans have "British" ancestry.

Doncha' know those ol'boys get around, eh?!

[chronic_loser]

Please tell me if the Jamaicans of anglo-British extraction exhibit these same tendencies?

Never been to a British football or rugby game, have you?

[Vision]

shocking new suggestion that pot may be related to crime in some way

Wow, never saw this coming /rolling eyes

[Appalled but Not Surprised]

No spit.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1528793/posts?q=1&&page=1#1

[Stoat]

shocking new suggestion that pot may be related to crime in some way

Wow, never saw this coming /rolling eyes

 

[Vision]

Why do you think druggies are so weird?

[Stoat]

Why do you think druggies are so weird?

Well, it could either be that the drug itself makes them act weirdly, or  perhaps they were weird already and they took up drugs to help them forget that they are weird.  It''s one of those complex philosophical questions, like 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'? However, as far as I'm concerned, unlike most philosophical questions, which are intriguing and worth a person's contemplative time, this one, in my view, doesn't rise to that level....mainly because I haven't met any druggies that have made me think that they have any intellectual insights to add to the discussions of the day.

[Moonman62]

Where is this proof? I have never known anyone to get aggressive while high on pot....alchohol yes, and other drugs, but not pot.

My experience is just the opposite. Habitual pot users are the angriest, rudest and deceitful group of people I've known. I've been around drinkers thousands of times and the worst behavior I've witnessed is loud talking.

[little jeremiah]

later read/ping.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"I have no doubt that he will be reelected in a landslide. "

More like elected by a landfill

Kill A Commie For Mommie
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

[mugs99]

"the drug can drive a person mad"





ROTFLMAO!!! .

[Stoat]

If not mad or insane, it will at the very least make a person breathtakingly stupid (although they may well have been that way already)

[mugs99]

If not mad or insane, it will at the very least make a person breathtakingly stupid

Stupid like Carl Sagan?
"Looking at fires when high, by the way, especially through one of those prism kaleidoscopes which image their surroundings, is an extraordinarily moving and beautiful experience." Carl Sagan

Want more?
.

[JTN]

The linking of cannabis to violence is so ridiculous that it is not really worthy of response, but the link between violent crime and prohibition has been shown to be quite strong. One study ("Violence and the U.S. Prohibitions of Drugs and Alcohol" American Law and Economics Review, 1, Fall 1999) "suggest(s) the homicide rate is currently 25%-75% higher than it would be in the absence of drug prohibition." In a study for the Independence Institute, Economist Kirby Cundiff wrote, "My research indicates that the theory of the primary cause of violent crime in the United States which is most consistent with the available data is a violent black market caused by the War on Drugs today, and Prohibition in the 1920's."

Further, the implementation and repeal of alcohol prohibition coincided with a stunning increase and decrease in violent crime, respectively. A study of ten cities with a total population of ten million showed a 24% increase in crime between 1920 and 1921. Further, "A closer examination of the cities studied indicates that the greatest increases in crime occurred in those that were previously wet; the only cities to experience a decline in arrests were already dry when Prohibition was enacted." In 1933 when prohibition was repealed, crime rates began a massive reversal.

I look forward to the prohibitionists who point to this article as evidence to support prohibition stating that they now favor legalization and pointing to a drop in the crime rate as the reason.

[sheik yerbouty]

Yeah, mon! Dem effa get a beatin'!

[sheik yerbouty]

Is a helicopter landing on her head?

[Stoat]

Is a helicopter landing on her head?

I'm not sure.....I had always thought that she was waiting for takeoff clearance.....

[Nasty McPhilthy]

"...mainly because I haven't met any druggies that have made me think that they have any intellectual insights to add to the discussions of the day."

Really?

[wardaddy]

the only crime in JA over ganja is conflict over cultivation and export