Several
restrictions on ‘ganja’ use could go up in smoke as island’s politicians back
bill to establish licensing authority
A cannabis farmer in Nine Mile, Jamaica. Photograph: David Mcfadden/AP |
The
Jamaican cabinet has approved a bill that would decriminalise possession of
small amounts of cannabis and pave the way for a legal medical marijuana
industry, the justice minister has said.
Mark
Golding said he expected to introduce the legislation in the Senate this week.
Debate could start this month in the country where the drug, known popularly as
“ganja”, has long been culturally entrenched but illegal.
The bill
would establish a cannabis licensing authority to deal with the regulations
needed to cultivate, sell and distribute the herb for medical, scientific and
therapeutic purposes. “We need to position ourselves to take advantage of the
significant economic opportunities offered by this emerging industry,” he said.
It would
make possession of 2 ounces (56g) or less an offence that would not result in a
criminal record. Cultivation of five or fewer plants on any premises would be
permitted. Rastafarians, who use marijuana as a sacrament, could also legally
use it for religious purposes for the first time in Jamaica, where the
spiritual movement was founded in the 1930s.
For
decades, debate has raged on the Caribbean island over laws governing marijuana
use. But now, with several countries and US states relaxing their laws on the
herb, Jamaica is advancing reform plans.
Golding
said the government would not soften its stance on drug trafficking and it
intended to use a proportion of revenues from its licensing authority to
support a public education campaign to discourage pot-smoking by young people
and mitigate public health consequences.
The
director of the national Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce
said he expected the bill to be passed soon in parliament, where Portia Simpson
Miller’s governing party holds a 2-1 majority. “This development is long
overdue,” Delano Seiveright said.
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