6.33. It was also conceded that there are more law enforcement encounters within lower income neighbourhoods where the drug is used both for income generation (sold in small quantities), and for recreation by many individuals. At social events (usually at nights) in low-income neighbourhoods, it is as much used as is alcohol. This attendance at these events influences the likely police intervention. They explained that some of those events, although staged in low-income neighbourhoods, attract the attendance of middle and upper-class patrons and are usually violence-free, resulting in little police attention. Those events that do not, attract police attention. It was pointed out, however, that the violence is usually not cannabis usage-related, thus underscoring the point made in this Report that drug usage, including cannabis, often springs from deeper seated social problems. 6.34. Both citizens and law enforcement concede that there are different standards of morality for cannabis use. While marijuana use for the rich in Hollywood and in the region is glamourized, users who are poor and disenfranchised are stigmatised, persecuted and prosecuted. The latter are seen as losers, ‘drop-outs’, disengaged, and dangerous to society, despite the lack of evidence that marijuana causes psychotic behaviour and the considerable evidence that it has a calming, peaceful effect. Such stereotypes inform judicial and law enforcement. 6.35. Persons, like Rastafarians, who are non-conformists, are the prime targets of law enforcement. The Commission has listened to heart-rending stories of persecution and harassment and heard often the cry for reparations and justice for the years of suffering. 6.36. There is therefore a discernible cycle of disadvantage based on status. Persons who get arrested and convicted for marijuana typically belong to a particular social class and race, (racist and classist) which does not correspond to the many who actually use it. Yet, law and policy remain blinded to these unequal paradigms and prejudices, revealing a structural and systematic defect of equity in the criminal justice system. The impact of such criminalisation has been not only a diminution of economic, social and cultural rights (the right to work/ livelihoods, health), but to civil and political rights such as equality. Laws that are not founded on solid pillars of justice and rights produce unjust and unequal results. 6.37. A related factor reported in usage patterns in low-income communities is the absence of men and fathers. Among the reasons for this noticeable absence of males are homicides related to gang violence and incarceration for criminal offences including possession of marijuana. It is therefore, a vicious cycle spiralled by prohibition. Law enforcement personnel and experts advised the Commission that removing prohibition and criminal penalties from marijuana and bringing it into the licit economy has the potential to stabilise these neighbourhoods controlled by gangs and plagued by a subculture of gun violence. They put forward a strong view that removing prohibition from marijuana can help to weaken and eliminate criminal gangs and help to dissolve their economic power. They further suggest that a sustained allmedia, all-schools education programme aimed at demand reduction should accompany law reform, and that its target should be, in the main, young people; Jamaica law enforcement, for example, gave support for the establishment of a Cannabis Research Agency to be set up, in collaboration with other countries, to coordinate research into all aspects of cannabis, including its epidemiological and psychological effects, and importantly, as well its pharmacological and economic potential in order that Jamaica not be ‘left behind’. Legislation which targets gains from illicit activities such as Proceeds of Crime statutes and Money Laundering Prevention statutes support this approach. Notably, while the term ‘decriminalisation’ is often used in this discussion, the notion that the result of law reform should be to bring marijuana into a licit economy, points to legalisation, not mere decriminalisation, since in the latter construct, marijuana remains illegal and illicit, encouraging the black market and gang culture identified above.
Drug Use and Addiction related to Existing Social Inequalities
6.38. The indirectly discriminatory and punitive stance of the law on the socially marginalised is part of a vicious cycle. Even if we accept that marijuana may be harmful to users and is addictive, there is considerable evidence that it is social inequity itself that propels drug use and addiction. Drug use therefore is a function of social inequality, a correlation that has been well documented. For example, Baer & Singer tell us that: 46