The Grenadian government has announced that when it takes proposed cannabis legislation to Parliament, it will do so with several strict restrictions in place, aimed at regulating recreational, medicinal, and religious use of the substance.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, speaking during his weekly ‘DMs with the PM’ programme on Tuesday, said the proposed legislative changes will “de-penalise” the use of small quantities of cannabis, with significant limits on who can consume it and where.
“We also want to make it clear that this will only be permissible most likely to persons 21 and over and there [are] 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,” Mitchell stated.
As Minister for National Security, Mitchell explained that the legislation will also allow individuals to grow a small number of cannabis plants for personal use. The specific quantity that will be legally permitted is still being finalized as part of the ongoing policy discussions.
The government is also aiming to develop a legal framework to support a medicinal cannabis industry, as well as to accommodate religious and sacramental use, beginning with the Rastafarian community, which has long advocated for recognition of its spiritual use of marijuana.
“We intend to establish a medicinal industry, a commercial as well as the religious and sacramental use of marijuana,” Mitchell said. “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.”
In a move toward restorative justice, the Prime Minister also announced that the government is considering an amnesty or expungement of criminal records for individuals previously convicted for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
“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,” he said.
Mitchell stressed, however, that while Grenada is committed to reform, it must also comply with its international obligations, as the country is a signatory to various global treaties concerning the use of narcotics.
“I want to emphasize 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.
The Prime Minister reiterated that law enforcement resources would be better spent elsewhere than targeting individuals for minor cannabis use. “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, underscoring again that restrictions will be an integral part of the legislative framework.
