CARICOM Secretary General Addresses Marijuana Commission Recommendations

Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Irwin LaRocque has warned the region against trading cannabis through member states. He made the comments at a press briefing on Tuesday, ahead of the 40th Regular Meeting of Heads of Government. LaRocque disclosed that many pertinent issues were down for discussion, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), blacklisting, crime and security, and climate change.

Asked whether CARICOM had a unified position on cannabis decriminalization, LaRocque cited the Regional Commission on Marijuana, established in 2014, and the subsequent report presented in 2018. He said the report is the basis upon which member states will determine how they treat the matter at a national level, since it takes into consideration aspects including the medical, social and religious, as well as the impact on young people.  

Some of report’s recommendations: declassifying cannabis as a dangerous drug or narcotic; amending laws to permit the importation and exporting of cannabis and by-products; and substituting the current prohibitive, criminal-sanctioned regime with “legal and social policy that emphasises public health, education and human rights”. The Commission also recommended the imposition of moderate taxes so that the black market is not reinvigorated, and called for implementing an age limit. 

The parliaments of Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have all passed cannabis-related legislation. On May 9 this year the Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis Dr. Timothy Harris introduced the island’s Cannabis Bill in the national assembly. The expectation is the Bill will soon be debated and finally will provide legislation for medicinal, religious and recreational uses of the crop. On July 2, the Guyana government announced it had approved a proposal to lift custodial sentences for persons in possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. 

LaRocque warned against the transporting of cannabis and cannabis products, since it remains a banned substance for international trade governed by the UN’s 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. He referenced America, where it remains illegal to transport the crop across some state lines. At the time of writing, marijuana use is legal in eleven US states. The crop remains illegal under the country’s federal law. 

“So we’re not encouraging that people start moving with marijuana. You risk being arrested. No doubt about it, you’re moving a banned substance,” he said. “We’re looking at decriminalising marijuana at the national level, not about trading it . . . Do not try to cross the border with marijuana.”