Jamaican university plants first legal ganja tree
(CNS): The University of the West Indies (UWI) has planted a ganja plant in the Agora Gardens at the Faculty of Medical Sciences Teaching and Research. As the country takes its first step towards becoming the region’s prime producer of medical marijuana, following the recent legislation changes, the UWI is securing its position as the pioneer and centre of excellence in legally cultivating and researching the benefits of the drug.
“If we can play our cards right, good things can happen for the people of Jamaica,” said Justice Minister Mark Golding, who piloted decriminalizing the plant, according to reports from the Jamaican press.
The UWI and Jamaica’s University of Technology (UTech) are now licensed to grow ganja for research purposes. The UWI will be able to contract farming of cannabis outside of the Mona campus to small holders
Professor McDonald said UWI has assumed pole position among tertiary institutions in the Caribbean for ganja research. “Almost two years ago this was the most conservative institution in the Caribbean, and today here we are planting the first legal ganja plant after 102 years,” McDonald said.
He said that ganja had been demonised for economic reasons, while alcohol and cigarettes were never so demonised because they originated in the northern countries. “Ganja originated from countries in the south. Therefore, it was important that the interests of alcohol and cigarettes were protected.”
He said that the UWI would now do the necessary research aimed at providing the scientific basis to show that ganja is a medicine and is effective against a range of diseases.
Category: Caribbean, World News
Is it true that somebody already pulled it up and smoked it?
Please do your research on the plant’s life before asking questions like this.
“Yes I’m a ganja planter, call me di ganja farmer!” – The University of the West Indies
Meanwhile over here in the wonderful Cayman Islands we are giving our young people criminal records for having possession of Rizzla, grinder and a spliff. And we wonder why our young people are so disillusioned and fed up
Then move over there….
A very simple solution for those young dellusional fed up people.
It’s ridiculous, really. I’m currently in my third year of university studies in America, and due to the relaxed laws here, I can relax with a spliff when I please. I prefer cannabis over alcohol any day. No hangover, no vomiting, no risk of over dose, nothing.
I have great grades, and it has been of no detriment to my education or health. Yet, the government strives to lock up people over a natural plant? It seems like our politicians are stuck in 1960, and are yet to get out of the “devil’s lettuce” propaganda which was spread by the alcohol industry, prison officials and corrupt police heads who knew that legalizing cannabis would cut their money flow.
I can only pray that this government gets with the modern times. Cannabis is not as bad as they view it.. with so many medical applications, it is a mystery to me as to why they have to keep it illegal. Legalizing it would lower gang violence, and regulating it could be a potential source of income. Take Colorado for example. The state has seen lower levels of crime and has raked in MILLIONS from legal regulation of the plant, and have put that towards health and education.
I gotta get to that University quick, gonna learn me a whole passel o’ new stuff…
CNS- Please – get this right. UWI is not a Jamaican University exclusively. It is regional University that has three campuses. That explains why it is called the University of the West Indies and not the University of Jamaica.
A state run totally Jamaican University is the University of Technology.
Let’s really get it right – UWI started in Jamaica with the Trinidad campus coming on board 12 years later due to a merger with their Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture. Also, there are four campuses, not three. The fourth is considered an “open campus” which is spread through 14 other countries in the region (17 in all), including the Cayman Islands.
I don’t think CNS stated that UWI was a “Jamaican university exclusively”. However, the UWI Mona Campus in Kingston Jamaica is pioneering the research in medical marijuana… primarily due to the legislation changes in Jamaica which decriminalize marijuana. When and if the other countries do the same, then they can follow. Until then, UWI, Mona Campus start tings and run tings.