It was the right time to propose the ganja amendment - Harmon

It was the right time to propose the ganja amendment – Harmon

Jul 13, 2019 News

Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon related that the Cabinet’s proposal to remove custodial sentences for small quantities of marijuana was put forward at “the right time.”
Those remarks were made by the Director General at a press conference held by the People’s National Congress Reform yesterday.
“We have had this motion laid by one of the back-benchers of the National Assembly, and we have been deliberating on that matter from the time that motion was laid. We said that we [the government] were also going to wait on the study that was conducted by the Public Health Ministry and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), and another study that was done by CARICOM,” Harmon expressed.
He added that those studies have been completed, and there were some clear recommendations on the way forward. He said that, “we believe that it was opportune to deal with a sentencing amendment to the Act.”
Harmon explained that now that the Government has all different sorts of information at its disposal, the Cabinet was able to make a reasonable and informed decision on the amendment.
Meanwhile, member and representative of the Guyana Rastafarian Council, Khafra Messdjehuti expressed that he, and the council, are “not fully excited.” He further added that the government was, “wrong in delaying the matter so long,” and he firmly believes that “this proposal is just a political move”.
On July 02, the Cabinet approved a proposal that there should be no more custodial sentences for persons who are found to be in possession of 30 grams of marijuana or less. Cabinet’s decision will now be conveyed to Parliament where it will be further debated to make the amendments to the relevant laws governing the Narcotics Act.
Based on a recent report by the Caribbean Community, Cabinet gave this recommendation to support Rastafarians who require usage of marijuana in their worship and sacrament.
Cabinet stressed that the new decision does not mean that the possession of marijuana is no longer an offence, but persons will not be sentenced to imprisonment in accordance with the law.
Harmon further added during the press conference that he does not consider the government to be in a state of limbo, and that the government is “continuing the work of the people of Guyana.”

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