Man jailed for 3 years for 8 grams of ganja gets High Court bail

Twenty-seven-year-old Carl Mongal of Lot 2 Princes Street, Lodge, Georgetown had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by Magistrate Judy Latchman for having 8.3 grams of cannabis in his possession, but on Friday he was granted bail in the High Court.
Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes made a successful bail application on behalf of Mongal, who was subsequently ordered to pay $40,000 bail.
It has been alleged that Mongol, on May 18 at Princes Street, had the aforementioned quantity of the illicit substance in two Ziploc bags. Mongal was then told of the allegation and cautioned, and he admitted to the allegation. He was arrested, taken into custody, charged, and subsequently jailed for the offence.
The sentencing has caught the attention of the public, and even the politicians. In fact, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has said that for small quantities of marijuana, he would support the removal of custodial sentences from the law books in their entirety.

He has reminded that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is committed to supporting a ‘conscience vote’ should the matter come up for a vote in the National Assembly.
“To send somebody — a young person or even an older person — to jail for less than a quarter ounce of marijuana for three years, when we have people who are traffickers and we have people growing large quantities of marijuana, because they have money they get off from the system,” he explained.
The former President said he is not opposed to having those charged for small quantities face some penalty, but he would recommend alternative or non-custodial sentencing, such as community work and rehabilitation.
After almost three years, the AFC has still not managed to find support from the APNU for the motion, in the name of AFC parliamentarian Michael Carrington, to move the first reading of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill.
The motion to have the first reading of the Bill was tabled since December 10, 2015. The Bill itself has not been made public.
Former AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes, with the help of Attorney Mark Waldron, had drafted the bill, which seeks to soften the penalties for marijuana possession.
That draft bill stipulates that persons who are found in possession of the drug for personal use would be required to pay a fine of $10,000, or perform community service for a period of time, something that is being widely supported.