Harvard professor to address Westmoreland Ganja Farmers

WESTERN BUREAU:

Chairman of the Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers' Association (WHGFA), Ras Iyah-V, says the organisation has been attracting widespread positive responses from local and international pro-ganja supporters since the organisation was launched one month ago.

"The feedback has been great - great media-wise and great in terms of the responses coming from not just the Rastafari community, but other people," Iyah-V told Western Focus in an interview on Wednesday. "We haven't got any governmental feedback, and that is part of the Jamaican people's overall concern. Everybody I have spoken to says they like the move because the Government is taking too long (to legalise) and we have the best herb here.

"People are concerned that we have a product that can be utilised, and yet the Jamaican Government is dragging its feet. That is the basic response that I get from people all over. In other parishes, people want to do the same thing that we are doing here in Westmoreland because they don't really want to align themselves with government policies because when it comes to doing the things that need to be done, Government drags it feet," he added.

Legal aspect

The WHGFA was launched last month at the MXIII lawn in West End in Negril and will have its second monthly meeting tomorrow at the same venue. Ras Iyah-V said Harvard law professor, Charles Nesson, will be the keynote speaker at tomorrow's meeting.

"He will be speaking about the legal aspects from an international point of view, especially as it relates to the relationship between Jamaica and other Third World countries and the United States (US). The US is constantly claiming that these countries have signed international treaties on narcotics, but at the same time, the US itself is producing herb," Iyah-V said.

The Rastafarian elder also expressed scepticism about the Ganja Future Growers and Producers' Association, which was launched in Kingston last week, because Rastafari and "grass-roots people" who had been cultivating marijuana for decades and being persecuted for it were not invited to become part of the upper echelons of that organisation nor were they adequately represented on a discussion panel at the launch.

"It is good to see these types of people coming out in defence of marijuana, though it was discussed from a strictly medicinal point of view. On the other hand, grass-roots people and Rastafarians were not represented on the panel. Apart from Miguel Lorne, there were no other Rastafarians on the panel, and when he was asked to speak, he was given three minutes, while the others spoke at length - 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and so on. Only one other person of about eight panellists I can recall was asked to present in three minutes.

"I was sort of dissatisfied because it kind of displays the very concern that I have about the possible manipulation of herb by people in high society ... . It sort of reinforces reasons why I and others should have that concern," Iyah-V said.

"The other thing that I didn't like was that apart from Peter (Tosh) as an individual, no recognition was given to Rastafari by the directors. His (Tosh's) eldest son and Bunny Wailer collected the award and there was an award given to Paul Chang. Now I am saying, look how long - 80-odd years - Rastafari have been here defending herb and pointing it out, not just from a recreational, but a sacramental point of view, and apart from Rastafari being mentioned by Professor Charles Nesson, Josh Stanley, and Blaine Dowdle, no other person, in my recollection, said anything about Rastafari. These are the only people - three white people - who mentioned Rastafari," he said.

- C.G.