It's almost too taboo to discuss: pregnant women & marijuana. It's a dirty little secret for women, particularly during the harrowing first trimester, who turn to cannabis for relief from nausea and stress. 
 

Pregnant women in Jamaica use marijuana regularly to relieve nausea, as well as to relieve stress and depression, often in the form of a tea or tonic.

In the late 1960s, grad student Melanie Dreher was chosen by her professors to perform an ethnographic study on marijuana use in Jamaica to observe and document its usage and its consequences among pregnant women.

When Mutabaruka took over MC duties from DJ Amber at Rebel Salute on Friday night, he was to change the tone of the event. It was time to see more of the veterans in the business of reggae.

Spouting his sharp humour, Muta chided freeloaders who called themselves 'press', and told the men to go buy refreshments for their women, before summoning the veteran Max Romeo, who belted out hits such as War Inna Babylon, Macabee Version, Three Blind Mice, Nobody's Child and Let The Power Fall On I.

Richard Browne, Business Reporter

The legalisation of marijuana for recreational purposes in the state of Colorado, United States, has pushed prices up to US$400 (J$42,448) per ounce as demand quickly outpaced supply in that market.

The price spike has created a differential between legal Colorado marijuana and the illegal Jamaican product of some $41,988 per ounce, and has given even greater impetus to the drive to legalise the crop here.

Those efforts were previously held back as Jamaica was "always concerned about US policy", said Delano Seiveright, director for the Ganja Law Reform Coalition.

Delano Seiveright, Guest Columnist

Unsurprisingly, a recent survey showed the majority of Jamaicans in support of ganja decriminalisation - a fillip to the growing local and international movement pushing for sensible reforms to our laws that will reduce human-rights abuses, spur economic activity by complementing existing industries, and creating new ones, especially in research and development.

The Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices survey commissioned by the Professor Henry Lowe-led Bio-Tech R&D Institute and Pelican Publishers and executed by prominent pollster Don Anderson and his team over the last several weeks, I pray, would be the finale to a drawn-out debate that has carried us around in glorious circles.

Professor Henry Lowe yesterday launched Jamaica’s first medical ganja company, MediCanja in Kingston, to capitalise on the multibillion-dollar industry’s commercialisation.

Lowe is the executive chairman of Biotech Research and Development Institute.

He said it would be unfortunate if Jamaica lost out to a booming multibillion-dollar industry in Europe, Canada and the United States.

He noted that Canada’s hemp industry is valued at more than US$2 billion yearly.

Professor Lowe pointed out that Jamaica was the first country in the world to develop a commercial product from ganja, Canasol used to treat glaucoma.

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

WITH JAMAICA'S Ministry of Justice positioning itself to seek approval from Cabinet for the decriminalisation of marijuana, government Senator Mark Golding said the country is to advance constitutional justification to its international partners for the revision of the law.

Golding, the country's justice minister, said his ministry is giving active consideration to reforming the law relating to ganja in Jamaica.

Responding to questions posed in the Senate by Robert Montague yesterday, Golding said the revised law would permit the possession of small amounts of ganja, about two ounces, for recreational use.

Norris McDonald, Contributor

Medical marijuana is now a growing industry in the United States (US) and that country's Attorney General Eric Holder has said the federal government will no longer attempt to fight the 20 states that, in one form or another, have legalised the weed.

I was quite surprised therefore, when I read that Dr Dayton Campbell, a medical practitioner and member of parliament, claims that there will be wide-ranging negative effects if Jamaica decriminalises marijuana.

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

MEMBER OF Parliament for North West St Ann, Dr Dayton Campbell, who is a medical practitioner, on Tuesday warned against the ill and wide-ranging negative effects of decriminalising marijuana, a proposal moved in a motion by his colleague Raymond Pryce.

Contributing to debate on the motion in Gordon House, Dr Campbell made it clear that as a member of the medical profession, he had a duty to put public health first.

Despite strong arguments from Pryce about acquisition of criminal records by young men for the smoking of a ganja spliff (a small portion), Dr Campbell cautioned that studies made a direct link between the smoking of cannabis and mental illness.

NINE MILE, Jamaica (AP):

Napa and Sonoma have their wine tours, and travellers flock to Scotland to sample the fine single-malt whiskies. But in Jamaica, farmers are offering a different kind of trip for a different type of connoisseur.

Call them ganja tours: smoky, mystical, and technically illegal journeys to some of the island's hidden cannabis (ganja) plantations, where pot tourists can sample such strains as 'purple kush' and 'pineapple skunk'.

Paul Chang, Chairman of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition (GLRC) in Jamaica, has expressed disappointment over the image that has been painted of the marijuana over the years, which according to him, has resulted in Jamaica missing opportunities.

"Over the years, there has been this false science and lie associated with ganja and that has created a huge problem. We have painted the wrong image and so it's (ganja) linked with a lot of shame and class," Chang told a Gleaner's Editor's Forum on Wednesday.

"We have a misconception because of the demonisation that the substance has been associated with and so we keep missing the opportunities. This (ganja) is a multibillion-dollar industry," he declared.