…submits bill to give effect to proposal
Though a draft Bill is before Cabinet which seeks to remove custodial sentences for the possession of small quantities of marijuana, the Opposition has submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly its own Bill which calls for the same but for the legality of 500 grams of cannabis or cannabis resin and for all persons currently imprisoned for such possession to be released.
At Parliament Building on Monday, the Bill was read to the media by Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Sherod Duncan titled the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill 2020.
It seeks to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act of 1988 by deleting the words “together with imprisonment for not less than three years nor more than five years” and “together with imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than ten years”.
It also seeks to replace the words “fifteen grams of cannabis or cannabis resin” with “five hundred grams of cannabis or cannabis resin”, among other minor alterations.
The Bill is based on the experience of several citizens incarcerated for small quantities of marijuana who, as a result, have been economically and socially disadvantaged. It states that many young people incarcerated for this reason have been tainted while in prison by those the came into contact with leading them to be involved in more serious crimes in the future.
In his remarks, Duncan said that the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana has urged member countries to remove the narrow constraints to the use of marijuana and Guyana ought to follow this urging as it is more beneficial than consequential.
Back in 2015, Alliance For Change (AFC) Member, Michael Carrington had submitted a Bill intended to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act to prevent persons from being incarcerated if found with up to 30 grams of cannabis. Later, amendments were made to the Bill but it was eventually moved off of the Order paper. Years later, in July 2019, Cabinet approved a proposal to remove custodial sentences for persons found to be in possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.
However, Duncan said that further finalization was prevented by the consequences of the December 2018 no-confidence motion against the former Administration. Speaking too, Carrington told the media that there are many young people sitting in prison for a $100 or $500 worth of marijuana joint and this should not be the case. He said that if the current Administration does not support the Bill it would hypocritical of them.
Meanwhile, Opposition MP, Jermaine Figueira, who seconds the Bill, said that decriminalization should be taken in phases and that the Rastafarian community should not take the backseat but should be responsible for the establishment of an authority which would give legitimacy to those who are given licenses to cultivate the plant.
Figueira said: “Too many of our young citizens are incarcerated for a minute amount of cannabis and we’re saying a lot of their productive years have been lost because of this draconian law and we believe this is a right step in the right direction. Besides the quantity and besides us asking for those in possession of the proposed quantity not to be incarcerated, we would like for those who are incarcerated at the moment to be released. The world is taking a different direction with regards to cannabis and we would like our young Guyanese citizens who have been incarcerated already because of this small amount to be released [and] we’d like their records to be expunged of this criminality.”
