criminalization of use – and its limited effectiveness and undesirable side effects as the main intervention paradigm, therefore increasing benefits for society.”32 The Commission considers that a public health/ rights based approach is well suited to the Caribbean in addressing cannabis/ marijuana.
Changed Global Legal Landscape
2.30. It is clear that the global legal landscape has already changed. Several countries, including traditional allies like Canada, the UK, Europe, several states in the USA, as well as Israel and many countries in Latin America, have moved away from the prohibition based regime which relies on criminal sanctions. They have introduced legislative amendments to permit cannabis for medical use and in many cases, for recreational use. In the United States, recreational marijuana is legal in nine states plus Washington DC and marijuana for medical purposes is legal in another 29 states.33 2.31. CARICOM states have also begun the process of law reform, as discussed below. It is anticipated that this movement toward law reform will grow even stronger, particularly given anticipated potential medical and economic benefits of cannabis/ “Marijuana spent marijuana. more time legally on
earth than illegally”
3. HISTORY OF ILLEGALITY AND RELIGIOUS VIEWS 3.1. The designation of cannabis/ marijuana as an unlawful substance and a dangerous drug is of relatively recent vintage. For most of our history, cannabis/ marijuana was a free substance, grown naturally and easily throughout the region. “Marijuana spent more time legally on earth than illegally”, one participant said.34 Indeed, many CARICOM citizens have memories of their grandparents and forefathers using cannabis/ marijuana in benign fashion, such as “bash tea”,35 before the advent of prohibition, or, at least, its strict enforcement. 3.2. Cannabis usage may be traced to early civilizations and it was only in the 1900s that moves towards criminalization were undertaken and enforced, which evolved into prohibitive international and subsequently, domestic laws relative to cultivation, use, trade and sale. In 2008, an ancient Xinjiang tomb was discovered with cannabis, believed to have belonged to a shaman and used for medical purposes.36 3.3. The genesis of cannabis/ marijuana, which goes back thousands of years, is inextricably linked with the historical continuum and cultural identity of the CARICOM region. Cannabis can be traced to several ethnic and cultural traditions relevant to the Caribbean within Asia, Africa and the Middle East37 It was introduced during the post-emancipation period to the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana by East Indian indentured labourers38. In Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana however, territories with much larger East Indian populations than Jamaica, the influence of marijuana was somewhat subdued in terms of public acknowledgement until the 1960s39. On the contrary, in Jamaica, socially disaffected persons of African descent readily embraced “ganja”, using it to celebrate their non-European heritage.40 It was subsequently integrated into the Rastafarian religion, which emerged during the 1930s in Jamaica. 3.4. In spite of its increasing prevalence, the cultivation and importation of marijuana was officially criminalized in 1913 under the Opium Law in Jamaica and subsequent pieces of legislation expanded the Fischer B, Jeffries V, Hall W, Room R, Goldner E, Rehm J (2011). Lower risk cannabis use guidelines: A narrative review of evidence and recommendations. Canadian Journal of Public Health 102: 324‐327. 33 As at April 20, 2018, M. Robinson, J. Burke and S. Gould ‘This Map shows every State That has Legalised Marijuana ’, http://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana -states-2018-1. A 2017 Gallup poll showed that 64% of Americans support legalization. 34 St. Vincent Consultations, June 2015. 35 Participants said ‘bash tea’, which seems to be different from the more familiar ‘bush tea.’ 36 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/evolution/patenting-pot/Carrie Arnold, ‘The Rise of Marijuana TM (Patent Pending). 37 Warf (2014) 38 Klein (2016) 39 Hamid (2002) 40 Chevannes (2004) cited in Klein (2016) 32
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