purposes. The illegal status accorded to cannabis/ marijuana has additional implications in other areas of law. These laws are relevant to the treatment of cannabis as an illegal substance and support the prohibitionist regime. Consequently, if cannabis remains, even theoretically, an illegal substance, important matters that the legal regime will need to address include the status and facilitation of hemp, the need for patent laws, change to customs laws, the regulation of pharmacies and the amendment to anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime. 4.32. Already, problems have arisen with regard to the inability of companies operating marijuana businesses to legally transact with banks and financial institutions, given that the proceeds of their businesses are viewed as the ‘’proceeds of crime.” In addition to the ability to transact with banks, under the current legal regime, any profits from cannabis can also be legitimately viewed as offending the now several, up-to-date anti-money-laundering statutes, all of which outlaw the proceeds of any crime. Further, this discussion spills over into our concerns about the international context, considered below. 4.33. All CARICOM states have strict anti-money-laundering and Proceeds of Crime legislation. Originally, the offence of money-laundering was predicated on drug offences. However, the modern approach to money-laundering and proceeds of crime is linked to the proceeds of any crime. The fact that prohibition hinges on criminal proceedings and penalties, instead of civil proceedings (like traffic offences, for example), brings it squarely within the anti-money-laundering/ proceeds of crime regime, which itself has draconian penalties and legal consequences. The implications of this, even in the face of law reform, but where elements of criminality and criminal penalties are retained, keeping cannabis/ marijuana essentially as an illegal substance, are elaborated upon below, particularly in the international context. 4.34. Not surprisingly, should cannabis/ marijuana be reclassified, it will also be necessary to amend laws relating to Customs and pharmacies/ pharmaceuticals, since currently cannabis/ marijuana is listed as a substance without medicinal value.
Hemp
4.35. The question of hemp, a strain of the cannabis plant with negligible tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) arose on several occasions in the National Consultations. The value of hemp as an industrial and commercial substance is validated by the scientific and scholarly literature. Currently, CARICOM laws either do not make provision for hemp or treat it in the same way as all forms of cannabis, thereby prohibiting the usage of hemp for any purpose, including important commercial uses. The Commission is persuaded that hemp should be differentiated from other types of cannabis in the relevant legislation, using provisions that define hemp according to minimal THC levels and thereby excluding these from any regulatory or legal prohibitive regime. This will liberate hemp and encourage its use in important industry development. In the cultivation of hemp, careful zoning is needed to prevent cross-fertilisation. 4.36. The amended Jamaica law now provides for a new definition of ganja which excludes medicinal products and hemp. Hemp is defined in that statute as cannabis with no more than 1 % THC levels (tetrahydrocannabinol).88 4.37. The Belize amendment now makes similar provision for Indian hemp (cannabis). However, the Commission did receive submissions on hemp which recommended that the threshold for the definition of hemp be less than 5% Tetrahydrocannabinol, which it was believed, would allow for the formation of an industrial hemp movement. It was suggested that the impact on illicit use would be zero since “few people would use low THC cannabis as an euphoriant as is evident by the abandonment of “fat leaf”, low THC cannabis leaf in the field.”89
See section 3 of the 2015 Act. A suggestion from the Cannabis Movement of Saint Lucia, which functioned like a de facto Commission and worked for 2 years, harnessing the views of several stakeholders on the issue of possible law reform. 88 89
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