Yes, marijuana should be legal in Jamaica.

Feb 10, 2010
Rating

Leagalizing Marijuana Long Overdue
by: Fiyah T (Yardie, Long Island)

I'm not a chemist, nor am I a scientist. I am merely someone who has over 30 years' experience working for companies that manufacture drugs and drug products (I have worked for two of the top four pharmaceutical companies, and I currently work for the world's largest chemical company). I believe such experience has given me a solid perspective on drugs, what constitute a drug, and whether marijuana should (or should not) be legal.

For some 40 years, and nine presidents, the U.S. government has been waging "war on drugs," and has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars fighting a "war" it, or any other government for that matter, cannot win. Despite the ad campaigns, increased incarceration rates and a crackdown on smuggling, the number of illicit drug users in America has risen over the years and now sits at approximately 20 million Americans. Does this sound like a winnable "war"?

As far as I'm concerned, marijuana is not a drug. While it may fall under some absurd definition of a drug, it, unlike all drugs, undergoes no processing. Again, based on my over 30 years experience in the drug and chemical industry, all drugs are "processed" or "manufactured" in a lab somewhere. (I have been in some of those labs and observed drugs being manufactured.)

In Jamaica, we like to say: "If you can't beat them, join them." What the Jamaican government needs to do is make marijuana legal, tax its sale, thereby generating some well-needed revenues. Think about this: If alcohol, a deadly substance, is legal, marijuana, a relatively innocuous substance, should be legal.

All one has to do is look at the catastrophic damage alcohol use has inflicted upon many societies with regard to drunken driving. Perhaps it has happened, but I don't recall hearing of any driver who had been pulled over for "driving under the influence of marijuana."
It is full time Jamaica loosen it grip on marijuana and make it legal, such a move would also help to reduce the high crime rate connected to the marijuana trade in the island.

P.S. For the record, I am a non-smoker, and have been that way for some 25 years. Did I smoke the weed? Yes I did − for about 15 years. Why did I stop? I believe smoking is unhealthy.

X Close Editor

Feb 10, 2010
Rating

Submitted by: Fiyah T (Yardie, Long Island)

Title

Comment
I'm not a chemist, nor am I a scientist. I am merely someone who has over 30 years' experience working for companies that manufacture drugs and drug products (I have worked for two of the top four pharmaceutical companies, and I currently work for the world's largest chemical company). I believe such experience has given me a solid perspective on drugs, what constitute a drug, and whether marijuana should (or should not) be legal. For some 40 years, and nine presidents, the U.S. government has been waging "war on drugs," and has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars fighting a "war" it, or any other government for that matter, cannot win. Despite the ad campaigns, increased incarceration rates and a crackdown on smuggling, the number of illicit drug users in America has risen over the years and now sits at approximately 20 million Americans. Does this sound like a winnable "war"? As far as I'm concerned, marijuana is not a drug. While it may fall under some absurd definition of a drug, it, unlike all drugs, undergoes no processing. Again, based on my over 30 years experience in the drug and chemical industry, all drugs are "processed" or "manufactured" in a lab somewhere. (I have been in some of those labs and observed drugs being manufactured.) In Jamaica, we like to say: "If you can't beat them, join them." What the Jamaican government needs to do is make marijuana legal, tax its sale, thereby generating some well-needed revenues. Think about this: If alcohol, a deadly substance, is legal, marijuana, a relatively innocuous substance, should be legal. All one has to do is look at the catastrophic damage alcohol use has inflicted upon many societies with regard to drunken driving. Perhaps it has happened, but I don't recall hearing of any driver who had been pulled over for "driving under the influence of marijuana." It is full time Jamaica loosen it grip on marijuana and make it legal, such a move would also help to reduce the high crime rate connected to the marijuana trade in the island. P.S. For the record, I am a non-smoker, and have been that way for some 25 years. Did I smoke the weed? Yes I did − for about 15 years. Why did I stop? I believe smoking is unhealthy. <iframe src="http://www.my-island-jamaica.com/google_page_ad_200_Sqr_justified.html" width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" align="justified"></iframe>

Cancel Delete Delete & Ban

throbber Updating Comments page...

Yes, marijuana should be legal in Jamaica.

Comments for Yes, marijuana should be legal in Jamaica.

Comments for
Yes, marijuana should be legal in Jamaica.