tagged w/ Bhang
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By Mbena Mwanatongoni
A forensic psychiatrist is making a worrying revelation: About one-third of inmates in Tanzanian jails are mentally ill! The situation worsens because there is no policy to treat these prisoners who badly need psychiatric attention!
Renown Dr. Augustine Godman charges in an exclusive interview:
``A policy to allow psychiatrists get into jails in a bid to treat mentally sick inmates will drastically reduce crimes in the country although it might sound difficult to believe this.``
Dr. Godman suggests a number of solutions to redress the appalling situation.These include an intensive investment in training psychiatrists which he says is currently conspicuously absent, Government acknowledgement of the prominence of those professionals and availability of resources.
The middle-aged psychiatrist has spent most of his time in study in an area that he calls his preserve and which he says is highly stigmatised.
``Many people look down upon any mentally deranged persons, although I cannot dismiss that there are few sympathetic ones,`` he says.
He adds: ``These few sympathetic ones should be cause for putting emphasis on training of professionals in this particular area of study.``
Saying he is the only forensic psychiatrist in Tanzania, he is presently engaged in private practice after leaving public service for what he says stemmed from poor pay and non-recognition.
However, he does not apportion blame, save for the absence of a policy to train specialists in that vital area of study, citing the US which is heavily investing in it despite estimates that only about 20 per cent of its population are affected by mental disorders.
``If a country boasting of many psychiatrists has a fifth of its population suffering from mental illnesses, what about ours with a much higher infection rate but without specialists ?
This is a serious issue that needs to be looked into with all the necessary keenness and attention,`` he proposes.
Adds the consultant psychiatrist-cum-addiction expert: ``Do you know that it is a wrong approach to uproot bhang crops from farms?
Has it ever crossed your mind that these growers never smoke it but only cultivate it to make money?
It is a kind of a cash crop to them and the most appropriate answer is to give them an alternative means of making money.
The same goes for `gongo` illicit brew. The brewers do not drink it. To them it is a money-spinner.``
He concedes, though, that it will take a long time to have things moving in a direction that aims at controlling mental illnesses in the country considering the little importance attached to it.
The ministry of Health and Social Welfare during this financial year will through Mirembe Special Hospital for the sick offer improved treatment and investigation to the mental patients referred there from different hospitals in the country.
Health Minister Professor David Mwakyusa told Parliament when tabling his ministry`s estimates that the hospital will also improve its services to drug addicts and alcoholics through public awareness campaigns as well as capacity facilitation to regional hospitals for early identification of drug victims.
He said Isanga Institute too will improve its services for the mentally sick who have committed criminal offences who upon recovery would be discharged.
He said Regional Social Welfare Officers would be involved to assist in tailoring a procedure that will eventually allow these people to be integrated back into society.
Dr. Godman says the annual prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents is not well documented due to the absence of specialists for the stigmatised illness.By Mbena Mwanatongoni
A forensic psychiatrist is making a worrying revelation:... more
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Do you believe marijuana should be legalized in this country?
Yes 79% 16016 votes
No 21% 4130 votes
Total: 20146 votes
2/19/07Do you believe marijuana should be legalized in this country?
Yes 79% 16016... more
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Organizers said the grass-roots campaign to place a marijuana-decriminalization initiative before Joplin voters is not over, after their first attempt at a petition drive fell about 1,000 signatures short.
"It's definitely a workable situation," said Kelly Maddy, president of Sensible Joplin and the Joplin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "We still feel really good that we have a fighting chance to get this thing on the ballot."
Maddy and a handful of volunteers collected more than 5,600 signatures since September 2007 in an effort to get the decriminalization initiative on the November ballot. The petitions were submitted to City Hall on July 10. The group collected 3,623 signatures from registered Joplin voters, but it still needs an additional 1,033 valid signatures to meet the necessary number to put a proposal before voters.
Maddy said he received the results of the petition review Thursday but has not received a formal report from the city clerk's office.
City Attorney Brian Head said most of the invalid signatures came from unregistered voters.
"The primary issue is there was a large number of people who signed the petition who weren't registered voters or who weren't registered Joplin voters," he said.
City Clerk Barbara Hogelin is expected to present the results of her petition review to the City Council at its regular meeting on Aug. 4. Hogelin was out of the office Thursday.
After the council meeting, Maddy and his organization will have 10 days until Aug. 15 to amass the needed signatures. The city clerk then will have five days to review the petitions.
Maddy said that in addition to canvassers taking up their normal stations at the Joplin Public Library and other places, they will be going door-to-door with voter lists to obtain the signatures. He said the group also has planned a "Signature Surge Day" starting at noon Saturday, Aug. 9, at Par Hill Park.
"We're going to be all over doing our canvassing," he said.
The magic number of signatures is 4,656, or roughly 15 percent of the total number of registered voters in Joplin at the time of the most recent city election, which was in April.
If the group obtains the required number of signatures, the City Council on its own could make the proposal law, but Mayor Gary Shaw has said the panel most likely would defer to the voters on the issue.
Shaw reiterated Thursday that if the petition ultimately is brought before the council, he believes the decision should be left to the voters in Joplin.
"I think if it's thrown in our court, we'll get it on the fall ballot," he said, adding that the city would prefer that date rather than conducting a special election in February. "Just so we don't have to charge our citizens extra for a special election," he said.
THE PROPOSAL
If the city clerk finds that the petitions carry an adequate number of signatures, residents would vote on a proposal that says adults charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, which is 35 grams ( 1.225 ounces ) or less, or with possession of marijuana paraphernalia would not be jailed or have to post bond. Those found guilty in municipal court would be subject to a $250 maximum fine.
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake Organizers said the grass-roots campaign to place a marijuana-decriminalization... more
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