(WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and WHO guidelines for alcohol control should provide the framework for marketing and advertising controls. Marketing should be tightly controlled and only allowed for the limited purpose of ensuring awareness of the legal availability of cannabis products, but not to promote the use of cannabis products generally or of any particular product. 12.30. The evidence indicates that the existing legal prohibitionist regime on cannabis/ marijuana is not fit for purpose. Both the financial and human costs are huge. The Commission is satisfied that there should be significant changes to the laws of the region to enable the dismantling of this regime to better serve Caribbean peoples. A public health/ rights based approach is better able to confront the challenging multidimensional parameters of the drug problem, including its health, social justice and citizen security aspects”. 12.31. The Commission has heard the calls for caution in some quarters. Understandably, many of these reservations have to do with the several myths and misinformation in the public domain about a substance that was criminalised and demonised for over a century, but which has now been proven to be less harmful than legalised substances such as alcohol. The Commission is of the view that the end-goals for CARICOM should be the removal of a prohibitionist regime that has proven to be ineffective, unjust and caused more harm than it sought to prevent. 12.32. Notwithstanding the endgame, the Commission does not believe that total legalisation in a fully liberalised regime is a plausible option at this juncture for CARICOM. Yet, the Commission is of the view that a too limited approach to law reform, including one that focusses only on medical marijuana, would be counterproductive and inimical to the goals of Caribbean development, as outlined in the SDGs and endorsed by CARICOM. A balanced approach that would meet the main social justice, public health rights and citizen security objectives of the region would be a hybrid or mixed option. This would be an incremental and cautious approach to removing prohibition, but not too little that the goals would be frustrated, nor too much that CARICOM states are unable to manage the important regulatory controls that are envisaged. This approach would best suit the developmental objectives of the region.
Recommendations
Cannabis/ marijuana should be declassified as a “dangerous drug” or narcotic, in all legislation and reclassified as a controlled substance;
CARICOM states should act to remove ‘’Prohibition ‘’status from cannabis/ marijuana, substituting the current prohibitive, criminal sanctioned regime with legal and social policy that emphasises public health, education and human rights; CARICOM states should have a margin of appreciation as to how to achieve this ultimate goal, either: -
Complete and immediate removal of all prohibitive legal provisions, thereby rendering cannabis/ marijuana a legal substance, which is regulated only in strictly defined circumstances; or As a preparatory step, the decriminalisation of cannabis/ marijuana for personal use in private premises and medical purposes;
Full prohibition for children and adolescents with an appropriate age limit should be maintained except for medical reasons; however, young people who use marijuana will be directed to treatment and diversion programs rather than being prosecuted or criminalized (Murphy and Carnevale (2015); The law should enact legal definitions of hemp based on low THC levels and make clear distinctions between hemp and other varieties of cannabis and ensuring that all legal sanctions be removed from hemp and hemp production; Legislation should provide for the protection of seeds, strains of cannabis, through intellectual property mechanisms;
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