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Introduction
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The
objective of this site is to create a comprehensive data bank dealing
with diverse aspects of the ganja or marijuana phenomenon in
Jamaica in tandem with the efforts of the National Commission on Ganja
currently underway in that country as well as with other formal debates
on decriminalization now taking place in various parts of the world.
The structure of the website is divided in four parts with a navigation
menu located for the convenience of the user at the upper left corner
of every content page.
I. The Background section contains legal and historical information
about marijuana primarily in Jamaica and to some extent in other countries.
It also contains a world-wide chronology of drug use as well as a comprehensive
collection of international drug reports that covers the period from the
end of the 19th-Century to the present.
II. The News Index brings together contemporary newspaper articles
about the issue, the bulk being published by the Jamaican newspaper The
Gleaner and by the Jamaican Observer. In addition, a smaller
number of related articles are drawn from American, Canadian and European
newspapers. Links to Jamaican newspapers as well as to other relevant
media outlets are located in that section.
III. The Analyses section is divided in four parts: cultural
and social analyses (primarily academic anthropological and sociological
publications); medical analyses (primarily medical and pharmacological
studies dealing with the medicinal use of marijuana); non-academic
commentaries (drawn primarily from newspapers and magazines); and
statistical analyses (results of surveys and other quantitative
efforts).
IV. The Resources section lists related links on the Internet,
bibliographies on marijuana in Jamaica and the Caribbean, on-line libraries,
maps, music references, and perspectives on the issue.
This
website contains a search engine to facilitate research, particularly
recommended for news research, an area where the volume of available material
is great. The site map can be located by pressing Search on
the menu.
Most medical articles
included on this site are pdf files that require the Adobe Acrobat
reader software, which can be downloaded
without fee.
Incompleteness is an unavoidable characteristic of an enterprise of this
nature. In this regard, commentaries and suggestions, including references
to other materials and information, are most welcome.
This website has been created for educational purposes only and is in
conformity with the Copyright Law of the United States and related regulation
regarding "Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Reproduction by Libraries
and Archives". See
the note on Copyrights.
Top
Site administered by Renzo Taddei.
Last
update: April 2001.
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