[420 Girl]

Jamaica - Three things I can't stand are selfishness, hypocrisy and arrogance. The recent news that the US government has decided to ban our Tastee cheese is an example of all three in action. I'm tired of being told that America supports free trade and that we enjoy the benefit of a mythical "level playing field" when, for instance, we have never been able to export chicken or beef to the US. Cap in hand, every year we gratefully receive a small sugar quota for which the American public pays 21 cents a pound when the world price is three cents.

There's always an excuse. In the case of Tastee cheese I understand it is because someone decided we don't have a regulatory dairy board. That someone undoubtedly was the beneficiary of financial assistance from the US dairy industry lobby. The same inevitably goes for the chicken and beef producers' lobby.

The only agricultural crop - up to now - the lobbyists haven't been able to block is marijuana, aka cannabis, ganja, etc. That's suprising because marijuana is the top cash crop in 12 states, one of the top five in 39 states - larger than cotton in Alabama, larger than peanuts in Georgia, larger than tobacco in the Carolinas. About 50 million pounds of marijuana, half of which is grown in the US, is available annually for the 25 million users in our neighbour to the north.

According to United Nations estimates, Jamaica is the sixth largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean and Latin America, well behind the leader Brazil with an annual output of 176 metric tons. Like these other countries, Jamaica for decades produced ganja purely for domestic consumption until it found its way into the lifestyle of young Americans. For the Jamaican peasantry it traditionally provided a panacea after a long day in the fields. Ganja tea has always been known to relieve aches and pains, and rum mixed with ganja helps reduce fever pleasantly and effectively.

There is undeniable evidence of the potential for marijuana alleviating the symptoms of several medical conditions and for curing other ailments. The pioneering work done locally in the development of marijuana for treating asthma and glaucoma is well-known. Prescription drugs for the control of nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy given to cancer and AIDS patients are commonplace in the US. Meanwhile, researchers in Europe have identified a chemical, beta-caryophyllene, in cannabis which they say could be used to treat pain, inflammation, artherosclerosis and osteoporosis. However, because it is a natural chemical the big pharmaceutical companies are not inclined to seek regulatory approval in a hurry, academics warn. Probably more lobbyists at work. Despite this, several states in the US have already legalised medical marijuana although it is banned at the Federal level because it "has a high potential for abuse" (like alcohol, over-the-counter-medicines, glue, violent video games and dangerous driving).

The Americans like to remind us how much money they have given Jamaica (US$7.8 million between 1992 and 1998) to prevent ganja production and trafficking. Over a trillion dollars has been ploughed into the war against drugs in their homeland, however, and by general consensus the war has been lost.

Prison populations in the States are now five times the world average and have risen from 41,000 30 years ago, to 500,000 for those incarcerated for drug offences. Criminals at home and abroad have benefited from the introduction of more stringent drug war laws which have seen street prices jump and profits skyrocket. According to Harvard lecturer Jeffrey Miron, seven times as much money has been spent on drug interdiction, policing and imprisonment as has been spent on the treatment of drug addiction. Of prisoners with drug problems only 14% get help in American prisons.

In 2000, Prime Minister PJ Patterson appointed a National Commission on Ganja, under Professor Barry Chevannes, that subsequently recommended that marijuana should be legalised for personal use and, in addition, should be approved for use for religious purposes. "The US opposes the decriminalisation of marijuana," pronounced an American embassy spokesman almost immediately. And that was that.

Last year Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh revealed that a seven-member commission had been researching possible changes to the anti-drug laws. The US State Department quickly reminded us that we were the Caribbean's largest producer and exporter of marijuana and that we were at risk of losing our anti-drug certification and would face economic sanctions. What about sanctions on the Florida merchants who sell high-powered guns to our drug gangs? And since the war on drugs in the US has been declared a dismal failure, why not seriously consider allowing marijuana for personal use and begin treating drug users as a matter of public health? After all, this is what (another!) commission of three former Latin American presidents just proposed.

As UWI professor Norman Girvan suggested in the Jamaica Observer on June 24 now that Barack "Yes We Can" Obama is in the driver's seat, perhaps the subject of decriminalising marijuana can be discussed without the preconceptions and prejudices of the Bush administration.

Until then, it's our turn to be selfish, hypocritical and arrogant. We should (surreptiously) step up the export of sensemillia - the ganja equivalent of Blue Mountain coffee - at least until we can export Tastee cheese again. Now that's what I call a level playing field.

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