A former head of the United States National Women’s Political Caucus who was an influential fund-raiser for Barack Obama during his years as American president,
has appealed to Prime Minister Andrew Holness to ensure that Jamaica is not left behind as the medical marijuana industry continues to grow worldwide.
“The time has come for Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who I regard as a remarkably bright man, to quickly and responsibly move the ball further forward when it comes to Jamaica developing a medical, therapeutic and scientific base for cannabis in the world,” Wanda James argued in a release sent to the Observer.
James, a leading American businesswoman who in 2008 was a member of Obama’s National Finance Committee and one of his largest bundlers of donations in Colorado, was responding to recent reports on medical marijuana in Jamaica.
Cannabis law reform advocate Delano Seiveright recently raised concerns about views expressed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Winston De La Haye which, he said, could limit Jamaica’s development of the sector.
Seiveright had questioned Dr De La Haye’s interpretation of a National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) report in which the chief medical officer said that there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of children and adolescents using ganja in Jamaica. His position was supported by Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton.
However, Seiveright said that, “Dr De La Haye, who is the backbone of the NCDA for many years, spent all his life belittling ganja law reform and has been keen at promulgating information that many, including well-respected members of the medical community, view as highly questionable and out of sync with current realities. How then can Dr De La Haye be expected to reasonably and expertly guide ganja-related health policy?”
At the same time, NCDA Deputy Chairman Professor Wendel Abel, in a discussion with journalist Cliff Hughes on
Nationwide Radio, dismissed as wrong De La Haye’s interpretation of the report. Dr Abel said that ganja use has in fact been stable for the most part and that there is no data in hand to suggest a 50 per cent increase in it since Jamaica decriminalised ganja use.
He noted further that absolutely no research or study has been done since decriminalisation on adolescent use of ganja in Jamaica.
In her release, James pointed out that the issue is not just an industry one, but is rooted in social justice, given decades of oppression and injustice meted out on people because of the plant.
“The entire world is watching Jamaica,” she said. “It is Jamaica that owns the brand of Rastafari cannabis, and has shown the world for decades that the healing attributes of the plant are real. Since 2009, American and Israeli doctors have been studying this plant and have scientifically proven that it provides relief from epilepsy, pain, cancer and other neurological issues such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It would be a crying shame if Jamaica lost out on the medical benefits and financial improvement to your economy.
“So, while I am encouraged by the words of Minister Karl Samuda and Prime Minister Holness, it is clear that the health ministry, from its own statements and narrative, has taken an unreceptive and obsolete approach to ganja that will only leave Jamaica further behind the world and the rest of the Caribbean. In recent months, Puerto Rico and even the Cayman Islands have passed Jamaica in medical cannabis reform,” James added.
She also stated that the best cannabis reform efforts are led from the absolute top. “In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has firmly moved beyond medical cannabis, and in Uruguay it was then President Mojica who moved the nation forward. The issues surrounding cannabis reform and development are not simple and require multiple ministries, agencies and departments to be working as one. Only Prime Minister Holness can do that. He would stand tall among the great leaders of the world,” said James.
Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Romania are some of the most recent countries to make changes to their laws liberalising, in varying degrees, the use of cannabis for medicinal and other purposes.
Next year, Canada is scheduled to transition from a medical cannabis regime to full legalisation, while more than half the states in the United States have either legalised cannabis completely or have medical, therapeutic and scientific regimes in place.
James’ political, professional and financial work on cannabis reform has led to her being named the 2010 Marijuana Advocate of the Year by Westword Magazine, and has led to her being featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CBS Sunday Morning Holiday Special, ‘Eat, Drink and be Merry’ and on CNBC’s Marijuana USA.
