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Hey there,
Aloha. I just read the following article in the June 27th edition of THE WEEK Magazine. The news sounds promising as a potential Exhibit for Share and me to use in our appeal.
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Kingston, Jamaica
Decriminalize it: In a victory for the Rastafarian religion, Jamaica last week announced plans to decriminalize possession of marijuana for religious or medical use. Parliament is expected to vote this fall on a proposal to allow possession for those purposes and to make other possession of up to 2 ounces a petty offense subject to a fine.
“I wish to stress that the proposed changes to the law are not intended to promote or give a stamp of approval to the use of ganja for recreational purposes,” said Justice Minister Mark Golding.
Rastafarians, about 10 percent of the island’s population, use the drug in communal rituals. Jamaica has considered legalization many times over the years but feared incurring U.S. sanctions. That’s not an issue now that several U.S. states have legalized pot.
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As far as I know, Jamaica would be the first country in the world to legalize Cannabis specifically for religious purposes. Please correct me if I’m wrong about that. We need this kind of positive information in our appeal. Our appeal brief is due on August 7th. I think when Jamaica actually changes their law this fall we can add that news as an Exhibit.
I need to know about writing our appeal and how I/we can help to make it as good as possible. Please send me anything useful that you can find. wikipedia? Federal Appeals Court Writing for Dummies? :-O
I’ve heard that amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs can be written and included in our appeal by groups who support the different elements of our case. Our appeals include that marijuana is misclassified as a Schedule 1 most dangerous substance with no recognized medical use in the USA, and religious use of Cannabis as our sacrament. I would think that medical marijuana groups, marijuana legalization groups and religious freedom groups and/or churches would want to help us win. I need to let as many of these groups know about our deadline as possible so they have time to write a persuasive brief. Thanks for your ideas and help on this.
All the best to everyone!
Love, Roger
😀
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