–willing to abide by rules of management

THE Guyanese Rastafarian community said Tuesday that it welcomes the proposal by the Regional Commission on Marijuana to decriminalise the use of marijuana across Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.

And according to executive member of the Guyana Rastafarian Council, Ras Leon Saul, the community is also willing to abide by the guidelines set out by the commission for management of the herb.

The announcement was made Monday by CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at a press conference ahead of the formal opening of the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, being hosted in Jamaica from July 4-6.

Ambassador LaRocque said that the 10-member commission, made up of experts in the fields of medicine, law, education, psychiatry, criminology and more arrived at its proposal after analysing the social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding marijuana use.

However, the commission has recommended that marijuana be “deemed a substance that is controlled and managed, as alcohol”, and that certain precautions be taken for the protection of children and young persons from its adverse effects.

According to Saul, the local Rastafarian community has been paying close attention to developments pertaining to the call worldwide to decriminalise marijuana, and is happy about the way things have turned out so far.

“I think it is justified to be a priority item on the agenda, simply because it is something that has been on the back burner for so long. And I guess it has been called to the forefront now,” he said, adding:

“I personally think that they will come back with a positive reaction and pave the way; give the go-ahead for countries such as Guyana to do what is necessary to come of age.”
Asked what he thought of the recommendations the commission has put forward, Saul seemed amenable to the idea, as he feels that such regulations would help discourage those that are under-age from smoking the herb.

WAY TO GO
“Protocols, bylaws, regulations, that’s the way it has been for alcohol and for tobacco; that’s the way it is for driving and for any legit business. You’ve got to have those things in place,” he said, adding:

“Anybody could be smoking weed; any little schoolchild could be smoking herbs, but when you have it regulated, there will be measures put in place so that certain persons cannot do it. It will be out of bounds like how tobacco and alcohol are out of bounds.”

Saul, who is a the former president of the Rastafarian Council, said that for too long the plant has been “demonised” when, in truth, it has certain benefits that alcohol and tobacco don’t have, and can bring significant economic relief and foreign exchange to Guyana.
“Now that GuySuCo has so much land available from the sugar bailout,” he said, “we can start hemp production that can help Guyana in time to come…

“Over time, we can earn more money from hemp and marijuana than oil. In 40 years’ time, oil will be done; but in 40 years’ time, the hemp and the marijuana will still be growing.”
The commission has also recommended that marijuana smoking and other uses should be banned in all public spaces. Saul wholeheartedly agrees, saying that the Rastafarian community will not have an issue with this, because of its support for the guidelines of the Anti-Smoking Law.

Said he: “As Rastafarians, when we have our worship ceremonies and so on, it happens within our communities, so we have it under controlled conditions. But, generally, we support the Anti-Smoking Law, because second-hand smoke is not good, whether it’s tobacco smoke or marijuana smoke; we recommend that you smoke at home or smoke within prescribed areas.”

CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS
Asked how the use of marijuana at ceremonies may affect small children, Ras Saul said: “When it comes to smoking, there ought to be age limits because smoking, regardless of if it’s herbs or tobacco, has carcinogenic attributes from the spinoff of smoking…

“But the point is, herbs or marijuana, because of its medicinal values, it can be boiled and drank as a tea; it can be cut up in your salad; it can be made into brownies…
“In other words, smoking it is not the only way to ingest or to take in the medicinal aspects of the herbs.”

Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament, Michael Carrington, in 2015, had tabled a Bill to be debated in the National Assembly for the amendment to the Narcotics and Psychotropics Substance to remove its mandatory jail time.
To date, it has not been debated, and Saul is now calling for this to be done at the earliest opportunity.

“This law should have been passed already, but I guess the best timing is now. And I want the AFC member, Michael Carrington to be given all possible support,” he said, “so that the matter could be heard at the next sitting of Parliament…
“The ball is in their court, so I think that they should step up and play ball.”

Saul was one of those present when the commission on marijuana visited Guyana in 2017 to hold consultations surrounding the use of marijuana, following calls from CARICOM for the conducting of “careful in-depth research”.

The Guyana Rastafarian Council has been actively calling for the legalisation of marijuana for many years and a political party, the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party, was formed at the 2015 elections, primarily for the cause.

Meanwhile, earlier in February this year, 100 Rastafarians had marched from Buxton, East Coast Demerara, to the Square of the Revolution advocating the decriminalisation of small amounts of marijuana.