“Many of our near and far neighbours have joined the wave of common sense on decriminalising ganja as well as expunging records to allow many of the unemployed to get on with their lives. Support for this has even come from the commissioner of police. This period of archaic repression, like the now reversed ban on Rastafarians in our history, must end.” – Peter Polack, Cayman Islands Defence Lawyer

Even though we have 70% of the prison population incarcerated as a result of drug addiction and 20% of the whole population having a criminal conviction equating to 14% for drugs, it is astonishing there is no mandatory drug treatment plans.

If, as we have here a zero tolerance policy to all drugs that includes ganja, it is even more astonishing there is only very limited real rehabilitation or treatment for those with dependency problems and the two half way homes we do have for drug offenders struggling to get their lives back on track have had their government grants stopped.

There is enough evidence that even politicians with hearing and eye defects can find that inmates struggling with addiction are doomed to repeat the same crimes (or worse) if they do not receive the help they need.

The government is not saving money by this strange policy of ‘lock drug offenders up and shut up’, meaning out of sight out of mind.

Police Commissioner Baines had said publicly the prosecution of persons for possession of and consumption of small amounts of ganja is “clogging up the criminal justice system” whilst serious crime is getting worse.

Once again our MLA’s are silent on the matter as they are over the LGBT debate.

Where is the leadership on this?

We have a female Chief Officer suffering verbal abuse by a male Cabinet Minister and no action is taken against him despite all the preaching that verbal abuse will not be tolerated in the workforce – but it doesn’t apply if the workforce are civil servants and offenders are the ministers who make the laws to protect us.

The ganja problem is going to get a lot worse and the prison cells will be bulging and prosecuting the real criminals is going to take even longer because our very next door neighbour along with many parts of the USA are decriminalizing ganja.

Our MLA’s won’t even discuss the use of ganja for medical and therapeutic use by prescription.

If they ever do it will be a committee who will obtain expensive reports by ‘experts’ and if the result isn’t to their liking (not ours) it will sit on the shelf with the rest of them.

Look how long we have debating cruise ship permanent moorings/terminals and our waste disposal problem?

With ganja we haven’t even got to a debate.

Actually, that’s not true. The public has been debating it and so has our youth.

It’s just the people we elect haven’t and won’t.