THE Guyana Hemp Association proposes hosting two events, one in observance of ‘World Cannabis Day’ and the other of ‘World Hemp Day’ on April 20 and 21, days referred to as ‘4:20’ and ‘4:21’, respectively.
Both events, to which the public is invited, will be hosted at The Square of the Revolution, with the first scheduled to start at 16:20hrs on Thursday with an Inter-faith Service, followed by a rally and concert which is literally an Expo on ‘All there is to know about Cannabis’.
This forum will be addressed by a panel of prominent speakers, local and international, including Chairman of the Guyana Hemp Association, Dr. Turhane Doerga.
On Friday, which is designated “World Hemp Day”, there’s to be an exhibition on the pros and cons of hemp from 10:00 to 14:00hrs, during which there will be food items on sale and local herbs on display.

According to the organisers, one of the purposes of the exhibition is to enable the public to see what hemp looks like; get to know some of the products that can be derived from it; and at the same time have a better understanding of some of its benefits.
Immediately following the exhibition, there’s to be a forum titled, “The Establishment of a viable Hemp Industry in Guyana”, during which a panel of prominent speakers, again headed by Doerga, will deliberate.
Also officiating at that forum will be the organisation’s co-chairs, Messrs David Kirton and Kamana Burnham.

The main focus of the Guyana Hemp Association at this time, the organisers told the Guyana Chronicle, is to lobby for the decriminalisation of Industrial Hemp which Guyana agreed in 1971 with the United Nations.
At the time of the signing, they say, Guyana’s representatives were charged with taking the agreement home and enforcing it for the nation’s “greater good”.
But through an apparent oversight, this was not done, hence representations are currently being made at the level of Parliament to have the matter addressed.
Contending that hemp is not marijuana, the Association has committed to apprising the gathering of what was done at the level of the United Nations to decriminalise Industrial Hemp as a narcotic, and what is being done here to regularize this law.
“We have had national consultations countrywide, and coming out of those consultations, we have had the formation of about 25 Hemp Awareness Groups regionally,” a member of the organisation said.