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Rastafari Council calls for Nat’l Marijuana Commission

Sep 04, 2014 News

By Zena Henry

Among several issues of concern for the local Rastafari community, is the establishment of a National Marijuana Commission as decided upon by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The organization said that a number of issues are now engaging the attention of the Rastafari community through the representation of the Guyana Rastafari Council.
“Among the resolutions passed at the Council’s last General Meeting held at the F.E. Pollard Primary School on August 24, was a call on the Government of Guyana to immediately implement the mandate of the last CARICOM Heads of Government meeting, that each CARICOM member state sets up a National Marijuana Commission to complement the Regional Marijuana Commission to look at decriminalizing marijuana for medical, religious and recreational purposes.”
Another resolution, the body said, is the endorsement of the work of the Guyana Reparations Committee in coming up with the correct historical narrative for Guyana, among other things, as part of the CARICOM Reparations Claim to Europe.
The members also expressed concern over the general allocation of land in Guyana, and are calling on members of the Rastafari community to utilize the land in more organic agricultural pursuits for food security. It was discussed that in light of recent concerns being raised about genetically-modified seeds and food entering the Guyana food chain, it is becoming increasingly necessary for the development of programmes that promote organic produces.
“The Guyana Rastafari Council is about to embark on the process of building its headquarters in Georgetown, and developing an agricultural project on the outskirts of Linden.”
The pioneering community organization will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election of new office bearers come December 21.
The new executive will be responsible for coordinating a Regional Rastafari Conference on Reparations and Repatriation in the first half of 2015, as part of the CARICOM Reparations Commission’s agenda, which is also a part of the mandate of the United Nations’ International Decade for Peoples of African Descent.
CARICOM Heads, earlier this year, agreed on the establishment of a “regional commission” to ascertain the effects of legalising marijuana for medical purposes. The body is seeking to determine whether the 15 million plus residents in the Caribbean bloc should be allowed to use the drug and what legal ramifications should accompany the possession of small amounts.
Acknowledging that the legalisation of the herb raises the issue of social and criminal implications, Caribbean leaders made the announcement when discussions on the matter were conducted on the second day of the Thirty-Fifth Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government in Antigua.
Some Caribbean countries have already started to address the matter while others are still skeptical about the issue. Jamaica, for instance, has moved ahead by endorsing the establishment of a marijuana laboratory and relaxing its laws to accommodate the possession of the herb in small amounts.

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