Gov’t moving to amend marijuana legislation

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC):

The Grenada government says there will be several restrictions in place when its seeks parliamentary approval to amend the legislation that will decriminalise the use of cannabis or marijuana for recreational, religious and medicinal use.

“We also want to make it clear that this will only be permissible most likely to persons 21 and over and there still going to be significant restrictions on likely no smoking of marijuana in public, absolutely no smoking around educational or school institutions and so on,” said Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.

Speaking on his weekly Tuesday ‘DMs with the PM’ programme, Mitchell, who is also the minister for national security, told viewers that the intention of proposed legislation is to “de-penalise” cannabis use in small quantities.

He said that it is also intended to permit the growing of a small number of cannabis plants to facilitate for personal purposes in small quantities and that the exact amount is going to be determined as part of the policy.

“We intend to establish a medicinal industry, a commercial as well as the religious and sacramental use of marijuana. So, in the case of religious and sacramental, certainly we are starting with the Rastafarian community who we know uses it as part of their religious practices, and from an industry commercial perspective we are seeking to enact legislation that will actually permit, via a licensing and permitting process, the growth and development of a medicinal marijuana industry,” Mitchell said.

“As part of this process, we are also looking to have an amnesty or expunging of records for persons who would have been convicted of possession of marijuana in the past, up to whatever is the amount we agree upon for small personal use,” said Mitchell, whose National Democratic Congress campaign for the 2022 general election promised to legalise the use of cannabis.

“I want to emphasis that this is not a straightforward and simple answer, as Grenada, like most of the world, is a signatory to certain treaty or conventions addressing the use of narcotics and we have to comply with our international obligations in relations to those issues as well,” he said while giving the assurance the law enforcement will not be going after people for a marijuana spliff.

“We certainly don’t want our officers spending their time chasing someone for a marijuana spliff, we think there are certain better ways in which those resources can be utilised,” he said while reiterating that several restrictions will be put in place.