Two things triggered today’s article.
The first was an email that Richard Crawford sent me in response to ‘Alcohol, drug use factors in motor vehicle crashes’, which appeared on April 29. Among other things, he wanted to know if this column was sponsored, and if so, by whom, and was it part of an “organised campaign … to try and demonise ganja”.
Even though Mr Crawford sought information about me and my motivation for writing this column, he did not offer any information about himself.
A subsequent Google search indicated that someone with the same name as the person who wrote me occupied the position of vice-chairman of the Ganja Growers and Producers Association. Could it be the same person, or were the similar names coincidences?
The second factor was a piece that was published in this newspaper on May 14. It was headlined ‘Driving on high: Just over one in every 10 Jamaican motorists drive after smoking ganja’. This was one of the results of a local poll commissioned by Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA) Chairman Earl Jarrett and conducted on April 1 and 2 by Johnson Survey Research Limited.
Given the general direction of my article and the opinions that I had expressed, in the absence of data, I wanted to read the survey. Happily, Mr Jarrett provided me with a copy of the pollsters’ 14-page report.
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