Leaders | Legalising v decriminalising drugs

A half-smoked joint

Decriminalising drugs leaves the crooks with the cash. Legalise drugs instead

Jun 28th 2014

“I’M GONNA smoke’a de ganja until I go blind,” sang Bob Marley. “You know I smoke’a de ganja all a de time.” Jamaicans who share his devotion to cannabis have long risked arrest. But this month the government said it intended to decriminalise possession of small amounts of the drug. Several countries in Europe and Latin America have already taken this step. On the day that Jamaica announced its plans, a report commissioned by the Kofi Annan Foundation argued that minor drug offences should be decriminalised in West Africa to reduce violence and corruption.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A half-smoked joint”