Jamaica’s government has approved legislation to ease a ban on the possession of small amounts of weed. Hailed as a more “enlightened approach,” the bill will also decriminalize the use of the drug for religious, medical and scientific ends.
Jamaican lawmakers approved the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs
Act which will legalize the possession of small amounts of pot,
or ganja as it’s locally known, in certain cases.
"Cabinet has approved certain changes to the law relating to
ganja. These relate to the possession of small quantities of
ganja for personal use, the smoking of ganja in private places
and the use of ganja for medical/medicinal purposes," said
Justice Minister Mark Golding.
The amendment is likely to be made law in September when the
Jamaican parliament return from their summer break. The new
regulations will drastically scale down the punishment for
carrying up to 57 grams of the drug. Citizens caught in
possession of weed will no longer be arrested. Instead they will
be issued with a ticket and asked to pay a fine.
In addition, the amendment decriminalizes the use of the drug for
scientific, religious and medical purposes. The cultivation of
cannabis for medical and industrial ends will also be permitted
under the amendment.
Golding said the new legislation was not intended in any way to
promote the consumption of marijuana.
"The objective is to provide a more enlightened approach to
dealing with possession of small quantities,” he said,
stressing the drug will still be illegal to smoke in public.
"Smoking of ganja should be absorbed into the general
non-smoking regime, with the same penalty structure, except that
the smoking of ganja will be permitted in private places,"
he said.
Jamaica’s Rastafarian movement, which views cannabis as sacred,
has long called for the legalization of the drug. They will now
be able to use the drug in special places designated for
religious worship.
The legalization of marijuana in Uruguay and Colorado has
prompted many governments to reassess their policies on
marijuana.
Last December Uruguayan President Jose Mujica signed a law
decriminalizing the consumption, cultivation and sale of the
drug. In doing so he hopes to undercut the illegal drugs industry
in the country.