est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Referendum Promised on Full Decriminalization of Cannabis

On March 05, 2021 the lower house of parliament debated an amendment to the drug abuse prevention act that would remove the possession of 14 grammes of cannabis from the list of offences for which one can be charged, instead a ticketing system would be used. The government is moving as promised in the direction…

On March 05, 2021 the lower house of parliament debated an amendment to the drug abuse prevention act that would remove the possession of 14 grammes of cannabis from the list of offences for which one can be charged, instead a ticketing system would be used.

The government is moving as promised in the direction of liberalising Barbados cannabis laws, following decriminalisation for medicinal and sacramental purposes last year. Government emphasized during the debate full decriminalisation will have to be subject to a referendum as stated in its manifesto.

Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Amendment Bill 2020 – Debate 1

Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Amendment Bill 2020 – Debate 2

108 responses to “Referendum Promised on Full Decriminalization of Cannabis”

  1. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “This is how so many have become wealthy, during prohibition etc, when everyone else pays tax, others earn and pay nothing.”

    how bout when everyone else pays taxes and IT’S STOLEN…hint, hint the 1 BILLION dollars in VAT..

    Miller..by the time they’re done arguing among themselves about how to ROB THE POPULATION of the marijuana, the world and even the people they’re planning to rob would have MOVED ON to something better……ah won’t even tell them a thing….they deserve no less…they will be the only ones WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS…they are too greedy, covetous and badminded.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Ganja – joke or serious?
    I FIRST HEARD of ganja in 1958 when I went to Jamaica. It was an item bandied around the student blocks with which everybody seemed familiar and many people smoked. It was easy for me to acquire some – even a chillum pipe. So I tried the stuff. It made me cough a few times, but not being a smoker, it did nothing to me.
    The second encounter with ganja was when a friend told me that it was good for the flu. He assured me that he used it and supplied me with some. He told me to soak the ganja in a bottle of white rum and use a spoonful of the liquid whenever I have the flu – even give it to the children. Ever since then while living in Jamaica I would have a bottle of white rum with ganja soaking for any sign of the flu. I dare not have ganja in my house in Barbados.
    My next close encounter with ganja was when I was building a home in Jamaica. The man who did the tiling was a chain ganja smoker. He threw away the ends of the spliffs while doing his job. Lo and behold ganja sprung up all over my property a few months after I moved in.
    When I came to Barbados and built a home, I had to change the windows. I remembered a workshop in Jamaica that built beautiful windows. So I gave the workshop the job of building the windows. I made several visits to the workshop and at the time spent a long period making sure that the job was being done right. On the last occasion that I visited, I came away feeling high and sweet – a feeling of euphoria that I had never felt before. My head was in the clouds. It reminded me of a time when the warden of Taylor Hall, at the Mona Campus, UWI invited residents of the hall to a cocktail party and plied us with sweet sherry. I did not like feeling of out of control, so I have stayed away from ganja, sherry and all forms of alcohol except beer, which I find refreshing after a game of rugby.
    That is my story, but I am rather confused. Some people like being out of control. It may come from spirits, rum, whisky, wine. Some people like the feeling of calm from cigarettes. It is part of the freedom of the individual. There was a time when Government had a say in the proliferation of the mentioned commodities. Now Government is debating a say in the use of ganja. But I predict that there will be much controversy. Government has promised a referendum. I would predict that it would lose.
    Just as prior Governments had to scrap any plans for a referendum on casinos – even offshore, they will face the hostility of the preachers. There is no comparison when faced with the opposition of the pulpits. And you know that there are many and varied pulpits in Barbados. Some offer messages daily, some weekly and many in between. Judging from the way this writer was pilloried for daring to write about the “concept of sin”, the noises from the platforms will be ceaseless.
    That is not all. Where is the fairness between a mogul cultivating ten acres to be used for growing ganja for medicinal experimentation (and starting a business venture) and a man making herb tea to calm his arthritis if having ganja is illegal? It is a platitude to give the police permission to give a youngster a ticket for having a spliffs to pay $200 and avoid a blemish on his character. How do you differentiate between a person without locks that says that he is smoking ganja for religious reasons but is not a Rastafari? So far the Rastafari community has put up a reasonable argument contending that ganja has been central to their religion for ages and if legalising it now paved the way for financial exploitation, then consideration should be given to them to exploit the growing of ganja for reasons other than religious.
    In any case people who say that smoking ganja affects one’s judgment should realise that drinking alcohol could have the same affect.
    Perhaps Government now sees the tax relationship with the legalisation of the weed.
    Should we then review all those cases where people are in the penitentiary serving time for one problem or another? What about the blemish on their character?
    Harry Russell is a banker.

    Source: Nation

  3. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Miller….i just saw a CDC database of deaths for pfizer, moderna and whomever. I never hear marijuana kill nobody yet.

    “⚡️UPDATE: France suspends the AstraZeneca vaccine, president Emmanuel Macron has announced. The country joins the likes of Italy and Germany to suspend AZ jabs, following a wave of other nations around Europe.

    Italy has also seized almost 400,000 shots of the vaccine after the death of a man on Saturday.’

  4. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Human rights violations against Black/African people in Barbados must take center stage…no black government must ever get away with violating Black rights going forward without WRATH BEING BROUGHT DOWN ON THEIR EVIL HEADS…..11 plus frauds with useless degrees and pedigree (dog food) should have NO SAY in Black lives after what they did…for 54 years…

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/19/rastafari-want-reparation-and-a-slice-of-the-medical-marijuana-pie/

    The Rastafari community says it is prepared to turn up the heat on Government over several issues it claims are in violation of human rights.

    At the same time, the Rastafari Progressive Movement (RPM) is making a case for reparation for Rastafari from Government and at least a quarter of the profits from the local medicinal cannabis industry.

    This comes as the group expressed growing concern about a recent land lease in St John to a section of the minority group, proposed changes to the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act and what it feared could be forced vaccination in the not-too-distant future.

    Speaking at a media conference on Thursday at the Bongo Lights Culture Place in The City, Public Relations Officer of the RPM Paul Ras Simba Rock said the move by Government to amend the drug abuse law so that individuals would be fined $200 to be paid in 30 days instead of being dragged before the court was simply hypocritical, still oppressive and unjust.

    Rock, who is the President of the African Heritage Foundation, was supported by representatives of several other Rastafari groups that are members of RPM.

    Stating that Rastas were not prepared to pay the fine, he said “we will fight it in court to the highest level”.

    It was on that note that Rock called for Rastafari reparations, saying that they have been oppressed for years as a result of laws, which he said were in need of urgent change.”

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Drug bill flawed, says Franklyn
    Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn has told Government to “wheel and come again” with the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Bill.
    Calling the measure “bad, flawed and not sensible”, he said Government was allowing something that would damage the minds of adolescents.
    “The bill is not helping the situation. We will end up with a lot of young people under 18 years at the Psychiatric Hospital.”
    Earlier, Senator Jerome Walcott, in leading off the debate in the Senate, acknowledged studies had shown the negative effects in adolescents with the use of cannabis and marijuana. However, he said the bill will enable those under 18 who are charged for the offence of having the drug illegally to be sent to the National Council on Substance Abuse for rehabilitation”.
    Walcott said the amendment sought to deal with small quantities (14 grammes and under) where those caught with the drug would be fined $200, and after a rehab programme was completed and fine paid, their records would be expunged.
    “It is time for us to move forward. Section 6 lists process of payment and penalties . . . . [We’re] not saying that anyone can do as they like as it relates to cannabis and marijuana, but those small quantities can be dealt with at that point,” he said.
    Walcott said current laws were failing to deter use of the drug, citing statistics showing that in 2019 there were 4 295 drug-related offences with 534 people charged. He said bringing some of those cases to court was a waste of precious manpower by law enforcement officers who had to investigate, process and then go to trial.
    Franklyn said the fine and rehab were the only “positive” thing about the bill.
    “The expunging will see lots of young people not having a criminal record and so that will not hurt their chances of getting a job. We were young once and know temptation and lots of us made bad choices. Young men make mistakes and they see older people doing it, so they do it too,” he said.
    However, he asked if police would now “walk with a kit to determine if what you are smoking isn’t breadfruit leaves. Will they walk with a scale to weigh if it is 14 grammes or more? How will this work? Police are also asked to now determine who will go to Verdun House . . . . Are they now analysts or psychiatrists? If so, then they need to agitate for more pay seeing they are taking on new roles”. ( NS)

    Source: Nation

  6. addictionpsychologist Avatar
    addictionpsychologist

    sleeping awake marvellous incredible dreams impossibility possible real miracle God eternal mortal finite infinite alive inert dream reality gradual stepped creation evolution perfect imperfect credible incredible superior inferior universe number everything nothing animal plant mineral conscious unconscious same different money cannabis created with without creator with without beginning end in time past present future from the will to live love care matter. hell and heaven is ourselves for eternity til endless death. there are no secrets. truth is life and lie is death.

  7. addictionpsychologist Avatar
    addictionpsychologist

    cannabis is digestive of experience memory life impossibility possible miracle God body mind same different soothing calming relaxing thoughtful curious humble explorer traveler student learner eternal mortal finite infinite alive inert dream reality gradual stepped perfect imperfect superior inferior universe number money drugs everything nothing animal plant mineral creation evolution fantasy predictable unpredictable created with without creator with without beginning end in time past present future from the will to live love care matter. hell and heaven is ourselves for eternity til endless death. God can not be deceived. there are no secrets. truth is life and lie is death.

  8. addictionpsychologist Avatar
    addictionpsychologist

    if you want cannabis legal cheap available safe now you just have to make me known impossibility possible miracle God eternal mortal finite infinite alive inert dream reality gradual stepped perfect imperfect superior inferior universe number money drugs everything nothing animal plant mineral conscious unconscious mind body predictable unpredictable fantasy creation evolution created with without creator with without beginning end in time past present future from the will to live love care matter. hell and heaven is ourselves for eternity til endless death. God can not be deceived. there are no secrets. truth is life and lie is death.

Older Comments
1 2 3

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading