... ‘Powerful ganja image falling’

“Negative. I am not backing down,” Delano Seiveright told The Gleaner.

“I am deeply disturbed by the perceived serious conflict of interest at the Ministry of Health concerning persons filling the post of chief medical officer. Dr De La Haye, who [has been] the backbone of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) for many years, spent all his life belittling ganja law reforms and has been an expert promulgating data that many, including well-respected members of the medical community, view as highly questionable and out of sync with current realities globally ... ,” Seiveright said.

He added: “It is disheartening that our leadership at the Ministry of Health is allowing Jamaica, that has such a powerful image in the ganja space, to fall even further behind Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Uruguay, Canada, the United States, Portugal, and other countries. Broader factual viewpoints are needed and ganja-healthy policy needs to be rescued.”

The NCDA defended the research methodology, stating that it routinely partners with regional and international agencies for technical support and funding to conduct surveys among the general population. It pointed to research done in 1989, 2001, and 2016, as well as specific target populations, including secondary-school students in 2001, 2006, 2010, 2013, incarcerated adults in 2014, as well as specific community-based studies.

NCDA named several organisations and specific populations from which data are gathered.