Cannabis Chairman: Government is Stalling!

The number of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members that have passed cannabis-related legislation is set to increase. With Antigua, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines having already done so, St. Kitts and Nevis is positioning itself to be next. On May 9 the island’s prime minister, Dr. Timothy Harris, introduced the Cannabis Bill during a sitting of the national assembly. The Bill seeks to regulate the use of cannabis for medicinal, religious and recreational purposes.

Harris said that his government’s intention is to place the island among the most advanced and forward-looking countries in the world. “Today my government will advance for the first reading the Cannabis Bill, 2019,” he said. “In the not-too-distant future, the smallest country in the western hemisphere will provide a legal framework that represents a most modern and comprehensive response to the issues relating to the cultivation and use of marijuana.”

Harris promised non-nationals would not be allowed, “to secure advantages over nationals” as they build the country’s marijuana industry. However, he cautioned that until the Bill becomes law, the status quo will stand. Although still in its infancy stage, St. Kitts’ cannabis industry has not been without controversy. On May 10, St. Kitts police announced that businessman Alkiviades David had been arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply, possession of controlled drugs and importation of a controlled drug into the island. David, a Greek billionaire, had previously announced plans to develop cannabis industries in the Eastern Caribbean. He has since posted bail of $300,000.

Meanwhile in an interview with the STAR in March, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet announced that his government had agreed marijuana would be decriminalized, and commercial opportunities looked into. No timelines were given, and Chastanet played down suggestions that opportunities were passing them by. This week, the chairman of the Cannabis Movement, Mr. Andre De Caires reacted angrily to the moves in neighbouring St. Kitts and described the Bill as “the way to go” since it covers three important areas: religious rights, personal use and medicinal purposes.

“Hats off to Prime Minister Harris,” said DeCaires. “They’re going in the right direction.” DeCaires also stated that Alkiviades David is not one of the potential investors in the Cannabis Movement. He said it appears the government is stalling and promises have not been lived up to, three years after they were given by the current administration.

The latest statement by the government on cannabis came on April 17, courtesy Agriculture Minister Ezechiel Joseph. Speaking during his contribution to the Appropriation Bill, Joseph said that his ministry was “not opposed to any legal crop that will provide a livelihood for our farmers . . . But the reality is, we’re not the ones to change any legal framework to allow us to start the cultivation of cannabis; we’re waiting.”

He promised that “when the time was right”, the ministry will provide technical support to encourage and provide opportunities for individuals to capitalize from the cultivation of the crop. Joseph also issued a warning to advocates and farmers that cultivation does not come cheap. He advised that interested farmers should begin putting project proposals to the commercial banks.

“I’m hearing a lot of figures being bounced around,” he added. “None of us in Saint Lucia has the experience of cultivating marijuana to be able to verify the production information being talked about. Where it is being cultivated and where people are talking about thousands of dollars being realized, marijuana is grown under what’s described as ‘high-tech technology’. And that’s very costly.”

Additionally: “Current farmers of illegal marijuana who believe that if or when our laws change they will automatically be licensed to cultivate in the new situation . . . Well, I want to warn them that it’s very costly.”

De Caires says the answer to protecting farmers lies in the establishment of a cannabis co-operative. He says that the Iyanola Council for the Advancement of Rastafari (ICAR) and the Cannabis Movement realised years ago that “greedy Joes” would attempt to capitalize on the industry. “A co-operative would protect local growers and ensure the necessary infrastructure and finances are in place to provide support,” he said. “There are many farmers presently growing cannabis, but on lands they don’t own. The co-operative will be providing lands for these farmers,” DeCaires promised. As for those now   growing ganja on their own land: “They will just continue to do what they’re doing right now.”