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.

[Nasty McPhilthy]

No Replies

[JTN]

No Replies

Typical

"It is as fatal as it is cowardly to blink facts because they are not to our taste." - John Tyndall

[Wolfie]

"Reefer Madness" BS. First they told us it makes you violent. Then, it made you a lazy pacifist. Now it's back to violent. Pick a lie and stick with it.

[philman_36]

...who believes that the use of ganja may well be...
So much for scientific data. What one simply believes is data enough.
Wouldn't you like to get a look at the most recent and future grants that the good doctor has and will be getting.

[philman_36]

I'm so bad...
And you'll never guess who just happened to be at the eighth annual The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) International Forum...

Winston De La Haye and Robert Marlow at the Forum
Kind of interesting, no? (and that is just a preliminary searc result!)
Now, where's the money for the viewpont...?
Could there be such evidence to support such a thought? Who knows. An interesting starting point though.

[philman_36]

Gettin' interesting...moving backwards in time from the 2003 Forum...how about a Fellowship award...
NIDA Invest Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2002
NIDA Selects Four Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellows
Dr. De La Haye To Study Prevention and Treatment Models
A psychiatrist, Dr. De La Haye is chief resident at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Jamaica, where he treats patients with psychiatric and addiction disorders. As a Medical Officer for the Ministry of Health and the Jamaica Defense Force, Dr. De La Haye assisted in drug interdiction efforts, which fostered his interest in demand reduction efforts and the correlation between drug abuse and violence. During his Fellowship, Dr. De La Haye will study U.S. models for drug abuse education, prevention, and treatment. His goals include developing comprehensive drug abuse policies that will foster more effective demand reduction programs for students and young adults, improve service delivery, and reduce the drug-related incidence of infections and violence. He earned his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of the West Indies and his medical degree from the University Medical School of Pecs, Hungary.

Still looking...

[philman_36]

Oh, BTW, that 2003 Forum was about grant writing...
Dr. Gust updated the audience on the mission of the NIDA International Program, which is to support international drug abuse research collaborations, professional development, and networking of scientists, and to build research capacity through grants and administrative supplements to grants.
Snip...These events included the NIDA International Forum Poster Session and Research and Fellowship Opportunities...a NIDA grant-writing workshop conducted by Dr. Lucinda Miner, Deputy Director of the NIDA Office of Science Policy and Communications

Should I continue drawing the picture?

[philman_36]

From the same source as you...two days earlier on November 25, 2005...
GANJA, ALCOHOL and hopelessness are contributing to the country's soaring murder rate, which has now reached 1,478. So says mental health experts (doesn't a plural word mean more than one? why does only one make this assertion?) at the University of the West Indies.
The assertion about ganja was made Wednesday night by Dr. Winston De La Haye, president of the Psychiatry Association of Jamaica while speaking at a public forum on gambling, sex and food addictions at the Courtleigh Hotel, St. Andrew. He was responding to suggestions that some persons may have become "addicted" to the use of the gun and to violence.
"Cannabis (ganja) can make you mad, so why take a chance and use it?" said the mental health expert.
"We do believe that cannabis is playing a role in violence in this country. Cannabis has tetrahydro cannabinol (THC) which brings out aggression in people," said Dr. De La Haye, who is also a consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of the Detoxification Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).
But according to UHWI Professor, Fred Hickling: "The use of ganja can be a secondary issue. People are so frustrated and fed up with poverty that they believe the best way out of their problem is to resort to a spliff," he said.

I love bread crumbs.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Michael Jackson Complex is an obvious fixation on mutilation of and deviance with human anatomy in the media. It is indicative of a societal mental illness that caters to the lowest common denominator and generated with Pavlovian behavioral conditioning in popular culture.

The druggies like the sex perverts can only perpetuate the demand for their filthy habits by molesting the minds and bodies of the young ones.

There is a definate link between substance abuse, sexual deviancy and the resulting criminal behaviors that fill our prisons. There is an enemy within and it is a form of terrorism.

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littlejeremiah;Dr.Eckleburg:

Psychological dynamics ping...

To: Stoat

pot is clearly related to crime in the US. The outlawing of pot and other drugs has provided an underground economy in which gangs have grown and become wealthy. Now that's a crime.

7 posted on 11/27/2005 7:47:52 PM PST by bigsigh

Do either of you remember the correlations I have suggested concerning dopers, sex perverts, leftist subversives and the war of psychological terrorism being waged against this country?

Just wait, more will probably arrive...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Habitual pot users are the angriest, rudest and deceitful group of people I've known.

A lot of them are sex perverts...

[JTN]

Just wait, more will probably arrive...

More what? More baseless assertions? More "The first thing that pops into my head?" There is a discussion that's been going on here. Respond to the arguments. Start with comment #35.

[blabs]

You can't reason with the anti-pot crowd. They are the ones screaming the loudest, but have never tried it. Fascist brown shirts who want to control not only what you put into your body but what you can't.

The root of the problem is abuse. When you drink too much, smoke too much, or are wound tight as a knot, your behaviour will reflect the symptoms. Moderation is the answer, but many people lack the self control to regulate themselves.

I've lived around pot smokers, alchoholics, and hard line sober people my entire life. Alchoholics are self destructive, prone to violence, undependable, sickly, and dangerous to others. Hard line sober people are restless, irritated, hyper, control freaks, power and money hungry, and hard-headed know it-alls. Potheads are unmotivated, slow, easily distracted, mediocre, with no logentivity and little asiration. Find someone who has self control in their behaviour, and that person normally has a good sense of balance, can relate to others, is contempt, knows worth and value, is hard working, and has a deeper understanding of the human pshyce.

If I had to choose one of the three abusive behaviours, I would choose the pothead. He'll do enough to get by, will work when necessary, and if you let him grow his own weeds he will avoid destructive and violent situations, and be contempt with his mediocrity. Can't say that about the other two!

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

There is a discussion that's been going on here. Respond to the arguments. Start with comment #35.

My response and commentary are not subject to your regulation, nor are they dependent on your approval. Your permission is not required...

[Vision]

hehehe

[Vision]

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

Nice

[mysterio]

More reefer madness. I have never seen an aggressive pothead. Most of the ones I've known can barely drag themselves away from the tv to go fix another snack. Linking pot to violence is utter quackery.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Fascist brown shirts who want to control not only what you put into your body but what you can't.

Alchoholics (sic) are self destructive, prone to violence, undependable, sickly, and dangerous to others.

Winston Churchill was dangerous to the National Socialists.

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Hard line sober people are restless, irritated, hyper, control freaks, power and money hungry, and hard-headed know it-alls.

Oh, the horror someone could be a capitalist and want to control their own destiny! How dare those evil Republicans be so irritated by the decline of this country!

Heaven and hell forbid, you just might have to compete with one of them...

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Potheads are unmotivated, slow, easily distracted, mediocre, with no logentivity(sic) and little asiration(sic).

If I had to choose one of the three abusive behaviours(sic), I would choose the pothead. He'll do enough to get by, will work when necessary, and if you let him grow his own weeds he will avoid destructive and violent situations, and be contempt(sic) with his mediocrity.

Spoken like a true welfare plantation statesman. We can't have people with aspirations and dreams, they must be content with mediocrity so you can rule over them with your incompetence!

[blabs]

Don't take it personally. Your symptoms are just a manifestation of your corrupt nature. You insist on wanting to pull the splinter out of your brothers eye when you can't get the tree out of yours.

The context of the argument was ABUSIVE behaviors. Regulate your own behavior and quit dictating to others how they should live. If you want to be a power hungry capitalist, go for it. If you wan't to destroy your life with alchohol or drugs, go for it. I'm not stopping you. People have a right to live as they choose. As long as they are not harming others, let them be.

I have my own idea of right and wrong, and I'll be damned if some fascist pig is going to tell me how to live.

[little jeremiah]

There are essentially two world views.

1. There is no objective "right" or "wrong", if it feels good do it. If I want it or like it, it's good, if I don't want it or like it, it's bad. My mind and its ephemeral desires are the arbiter of truth, good, and bad.

Often this view point is couched in obfuscating type language. It is just as absolutist as world view #2, although it pretends to be tolerant. Its veneer of tolerance soon evaporates, when confronted with any disagreement.

Such so-called moral relativists are actually not relative at all, they just want to be the ones who decide what objective reality is and what it is not. The ultimate totalitarians - all in the name of faux freedom (theirs, of course, not mine or yours).

2. Objective truth and right and wrong exist, independently of my opinion about them. Generally, this world view is accepted by people who sincerely believe in God, but not always - you're the anomaly! Additionally, many people who superficially believe in God have not thought things through, are just sheeplike followers of the popular culture, are consciously insincere, or are madmen such as many Muslims.

But those who see that objective reality does indeed exist, and unchangeable right and wrong, see that to violate and warp one's mind and brain with drugs - which includes abuse of alcohol - is a crime against wisdom. In Sanskrit that is called prajnaparadha - an offense against wisdom. Such offenses always have negative repercussions, sooner or later, and when people en masse commit them, society is disturbed.

I say all this as a former moral relativist *and* drug user, so I know whereof I speak!

Good morning to you.