REPORT TO THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY HEADS OF GOVERNMENT BY THE THE CARICOM REGIONAL COMMISSION ON MARIJUANA WAITING TO EXHALE SAFEGUARDING OUR FUTURE THROUGH RESPONSIBLE SOCIO-LEGAL POLICY ON MARIJUANA June, 2018 Table of Contents (i)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................iv
(ii)
PREFACE ................................................................................................................................................. v
(iii)
LIST OF COMMISSIONERS**.............................................................................................................vii PROFESSOR ROSE-MARIE BELLE ANTOINE – CHAIR .....................................................................vii
(iv)
TERMS OF REFERENCE AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................xii
(v)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.
INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT FOR LAW REVIEW ......................................................................... 8
2.
USAGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD CANNABIS/ MARIJUANA ...................................................... 10 Widespread Usage Despite Prohibition............................................................................................................ 10 Concerns for Increased Usage after Law Reform ............................................................................................ 11 Changing Attitudes toward Cannabis/ Marijuana ............................................................................................ 11 Main Rationales for Calls for Reform .............................................................................................................. 13 Maintaining the Status Quo.............................................................................................................................. 13 Ending Prohibition and Embracing a Health and Rights Centred Approach.................................................... 14 Changed Global Legal Landscape.................................................................................................................... 17
3.
HISTORY OF ILLEGALITY AND RELIGIOUS VIEWS......................................................................... 17 Use in Religious Practices................................................................................................................................ 18 Religious Views, Rights and the Rastafarians.................................................................................................. 18
4.
LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF CANNABIS IN THE CARIBBEAN ......................................................... 20 Clear Rationales Needed for Law-making and Criminal Penalties .................................................................. 20 –Legitimacy of the Law ................................................................................................................................... 20 Current Status of Strict Liability Criminal Offences and Harsh Penalties ....................................................... 21 Sentences Harsher than for Serious Victim Crimes ......................................................................................... 23 Low Thresholds for Presumption of Trafficking.............................................................................................. 24 Appropriate Personal Amounts in Law Reform............................................................................................... 24 Current Exceptions in Law Not Applied Because of Stigma ........................................................................... 25 Ancillary Laws Supporting Illegality – The Financial Collateral..................................................................... 25 Hemp ................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Urgent Need for Patent Law in Law Reform Process ...................................................................................... 27
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