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AG warns police against locking up people found with less than 30 grams of ganja
Kaieteur News – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall on Tuesday urged members of the Guyana Police Force to avoid arresting individuals found with 30 grams (or less) of marijuana, citing that the law mandates no custodial sentences for such cases.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall
Kaieteur News reported that on November 7, 2022 Persons found with up to 30 grams of marijuana will no longer face jail time but will be required to undergo counselling or engage in community service due to the passage of the government’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill.
The Attorney General was at the time speaking during his weekly programme, ‘Issues in the News,’ when he addressed a question raised by a journalist of the recent reports which stated a man was arrested after found with less than 30 grams of marijuana.
While recalling the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, Nandlall underscored that a person found with less than 30 grams of cannabis, should not be denied bail. He explained that police should place a charge, impose bail and let the alleged offender appear in court, where the matter would be determined.
The Attorney noted, “The … amendments divide possession into two categories, if you have zero to 15 grams, then you can be charged but the penalty is mandatory counseling and if you have 15 grams but less than 30 grams the penalty is community services, the Magistrate can order you to do community service, so there is no mandatory imprisonment in fact there is no imprisonment in respect of possession of narcotics below 30 grams.”
He continued, “… If the court cannot sentence you to a term of imprisonment then the police cannot lock you up for that offence and that is a principle of law that runs across every offense in the statute books of our country.”
The 4.2 grams of marijuana that was found, along with the two joints (contains suspected cannabis)
Furthermore, the Attorney highlighted that if the offence does not carry a term of imprisonment, and a defendant is found guilty, they yet still cannot be arrested. “…So the police officers are hereby advised that they are not to detain persons in the lock up for possession of marijuana below 30 grams, they must grant bail and they must charge and put the person before the Magistrate Court and that applies to all offences,” the Attorney General urged.
On Sunday police arrested Cononiah Jupiter after he was nabbed with 4.2 grams of cannabis, during a mobile patrol along the Pakera road in Matthews Ridge, North West District, Region One. Jupiter was driving a black Toyota Fielder Wagon vehicle with registration number PAH 4429. During a mobile patrol, ranks stopped the vehicle and Commander of Region One, Krishna Ramana requested a search of the vehicle for narcotics and Jupiter consented. Police in a report said that upon searching, ranks discovered two zip lock bags containing leaves, seeds, and stems, along with two joints suspected to be cannabis in Jupiter’s pants pocket. Jupiter reportedly admitted that the marijuana found was for his private use and he used it as a medication. He was then paced in police custody.
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