Ganja data war
MOH backs drug watchdog in weed clash, lobbyist standing ground
‘I’m not backing down!” – Seiveright
ASTANDOFF between the Ministry of Health and a lobbyist of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has forced the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) to defend its research methodology that provided data suggesting an increase in ganja use among adolescents since possession of two ounces or less was no longer prosecutable as a criminal offence.
Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton responded sharply to criticisms from CLA Director Delano Seiveright that the ministry and some of its officials were the biggest humbug to efforts of the CLA to advance ganja decriminalisation in Jamaica. The NCDA provided data to the MOH for the March 26 Sunday Gleaner story titled ‘Ganja babies’.
The MOH, in a release yesterday, said it would not resile from its stance on ganja.
“It is unfortunate that a member of the CLA, described as a lobbyist in your story, ‘Ganja lobbyist suspicious of NCDA data’ on Sunday, March 25, 2017, would question the integrity of the NCDA’s impeccable history. Through the work of the NCDA, Jamaica is only one of the few countries in the region to conduct substance use and misuse studies,” the report said, inter alia.
“I am the minister of health, not a paid lobbyist for any narrow cause. I am satisfied that the agencies and ministry personnel who have provided me with advice on this matter have done so based on sound data analysis and in the interest of public health,” said Tufton to The Gleaner.
... Letter writer lashes De La Haye
“I am prepared to meet with [all interests], and listen to all contending views. However, this must be done with due regard and respect for our public-health institutions and agencies,” he said. The minister’s comments come against the background of criticisms from Seiveright, and a letter writer to The Gleaner, who said that Tufton’s chief medical officer, Dr Winston De La Haye, has in the past presented what she regarded as “controversial and ... dubious reports inimical to the use of ganja”. “For Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton to sit idly by and have Dr De La Haye – who now sets policy, and who in the past has carried a series of controversial and, in
my view, dubious reports inimical to the use of ganja – continue as chief medical officer either means he is hell-bent on destroying the wish of the majority of Jamaicans, including people in business, academia and Rastafari for liberalisation, or that he just doesn’t care ... ,” writes Victoria Wilson (PhD), Orlando, Florida, USA, in a letter to the editor published yesterday.
Wilson agreed with Seiveright “that the information is very suspicious”, stating that De La Haye “plays or has played a leadership role at NCDA, who may very well rely on negative data to garner more support for their efforts”.
Bolstered by the letter writer’s comments, Seiveright is not backing down.