HC Deb 19 March 1952 vol 497 cc2300-1
19. Mr. Braine

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken by the Jamaican Government to suppress traffic in drugs.

Mr. Lyttelton

The Jamaican police, with the help of other Departments and of the Press, are waging a vigorous and effective campaign against ganja, the only drug in common use in Jamaica. Cultivations are raided and destroyed. Growers of ganja and people found in possession of it are prosecuted. The Governor of Jamaica informs me that a propaganda campaign against the drug, will shortly be launched.

Mr. Braine

Is my right hon. Friend aware that efforts to stamp out this dreadful traffic have failed; that the drug is even peddled inside Jamaican prisons; that there is some evidence to suggest that the practice is spreading to this country through the medium of Jamaican immigrants; and will he, as a matter of the greatest urgency, consult again with the Jamaican Government to see whether the efforts to stamp out this dreadful traffic can be intensified?

Mr. Lyttelton

I think that police action is effective. I have already told my hon. Friend that a propaganda campaign is being launched. In 1951, for example, there were 600 prosecutions, and about 60 per cent. convictions were obtained. I am fully alive to the danger of this traffic.