Private use of marijuana to be considered – President

Even as Government is yet to take a definitive position on the issue of legalising and decriminalising marijuana, President Granger has stated that there is a possibility that private use of the herb would be on the cards in the coming months.

Speaking on the weekly televised programme – The Public Interest – which was aired on Friday, the Head of State pointed out that Cabinet is awaiting advice and recommendations from the Ministries of Public Health and Public Security on how to move ahead with the issue as was previously done with tobacco.

However, he noted that steps are being taken to consider making the use of marijuana legal: “I would say, even running the risk of talking out of school, that it is likely that the private use of marijuana would be given consideration in months to come.”

But as it relates to the issue of decriminalising the use of marijuana, the Head of State explained that while trafficking is not likely to be removed from the law books in the near future, but certainly the use of marijuana is beginning to be decriminalised.

“Decriminalisation is something else and that is not on the cards presently but there is a possibility that when the matter comes before us, we would want to have a good debate on whether a person should be sent to jail given custodial sentence for being in possession of such a small quantity of marijuana that it is clear it is for personal use and not for trafficking,” Granger noted.

Nevertheless, the President maintained that Cabinet is still in discussions and a definitive answer will not be given until it has a chance to look at the recommendations, and the matter goes to the National Assembly.

In May, the Guyanese Head of State speaking on the issue had stated that such reforms are not a current concern of the Government and on a more personal note declared that he will not subscribe to the usage of marijuana.

“This is not something that is a preoccupation of the Administration at the present time… I would not counsel the use of marijuana by young people or anybody,” he had posited. However, on another occasion he had noted that the focus should be on advocating for noncustodial sentences – which is an initiative currently being explored by the judicial and executive arms of Government.

The decriminalisation/legalisation of marijuana is gaining momentum worldwide and while other countries have taken steps to decriminalise and legalise the drug, the local debate on the issue went as far as the drafting of a “Ganja Bill”, which was to be tabled in the National Assembly earlier in January but this was indefinitely postponed.

Given that the overcrowding at the prison is said to be largely contributed by those on remand or incarcerated for possession of small amounts of marijuana, critics have argued that it would be in the best interest to introduce the decriminalisation legislation to deal with that problem.

Contrary to the President’s stance, the Alliance For Change (AFC) faction of the ruling coalition has been strongly advocating for the decriminalisation of marijuana.

In fact, AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes, with the help of Attorney Mark Waldron, compiled a draft Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill 2015, which seeks to soften the penalties for marijuana possession.

The draft stipulates that persons who are found in possession of the drug for personal use will be required to pay a fine of $10,000 or perform community service for a period of time.

AFC parliamentarian Michael Carrington, who presented the Bill to the National Assembly, had also expressed his full support of such legislation. He posited that no one should go to jail for ‘taking a smoke’.

Prime Minister and AFC Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo had also spoken extensively on the need for Guyana to move in that direction.

Many analysts have argued that the legalisation of marijuana is catching on because countries have realised that they can make money through generation of huge financial revenues.

Contentions are that the legalisation of marijuana will also cut a big slice out of the business of organised crime. On the downside, there may be an increase in health-related issues caused by excessive marijuana ingestion.

There will also be multiple expensive court cases where marijuana usage is challenged and there will be appeals to these cases if they are lost, all of which will also prove to be expensive.

It is also argued that the criminal organisations will simply find additional methods to make illicit funds from the growing, sale and transport of marijuana.

For example, cigarette bootlegging (the illegal traffic of a legal substance) is a big money-maker and there is no reason to believe that some form of marijuana bootlegging will not be added to their profit schemes.

Only recently at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on International Drug Policy, of which Guyana participated, Canadian Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott announced the country’s plans to introduce legislation in the spring of 2017 that would fully legalise adult cannabis consumption.

In the Caribbean, Jamaica took the first step towards decriminalising the drug back in 2015. (Vahnu Manickchand)