Our prison conditions and local magistrate courts are bursting at their seams from inmate overcrowding and case overloads for marijuana possession that amount to miniscule consumption levels. The state of California in the United States (US) for example, has seen a 20 per cent drop in youth crime between 2010 and 2011. The study titled California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low was conducted and released by the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. The study associated the decriminalisation of marijuana with the drop in juvenile delinquencies and crime. Law-enforcement experts and those who work with juvenile delinquents point out that placing youth in the criminal system tends to promote further criminality rather than dissuade it. The Jamaican National Commission of Ganja report (August 2001), concluded that, The criminalisation of thousands of people for simple possession for consumption does more harm to the society than could be done by the use of ganja itself. Indeed, during my doctoral research (2011) in garrison communities in the western and eastern sections of Kingston, residents commented on the absence of men and fathers in their communities. Among the reasons given for the noticeable absence of males in the home and yards of these communities, were homicides related to gang violence and incarceration for criminal offenses including possession of marijuana. The social and psychological impact of absentee males on these fragile communities is a devastating one.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 13:15:36 +0000
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