Ganja Bill approved in Jamaica.

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Bill Approved To Decriminalise Small Amounts Of Ganja

Published: Wednesday July 2, 2014 | 2:12 pm0 Comments

Cabinet approves bill to decriminalise possession of small amounts of ganja Justice Minister Mark Golding says the Cabinet has approved a bill to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of ganja.

The bill was brought to the Cabinet on Monday.

It proposes to erase the records of people convicted for possession of ganja weighing two ounces or less, and those, who may, in the future be held with a similar quantity of the weed.

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"There are young people, good boys and girls, in many cases, good Christian boys and girls, good students who get caught behind their grandmothers' houses smoking under 15 grammes of marijuana -- a spliff," Gonsalves said.

He noted that the laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines classify as possession with intent to supply the possession of more than 15 grammes (0.5 ounce) of marijuana.

"There are persons who have been criminalised for smoking a joint. With all the years of experience I have and all the studies I have to this matter, that seems to me to be entirely counterproductive and we need to have a serious conversation about that," said Gonsalves, a lawyer, who is also minister of legal affairs and national security.

"You don't need to have an absolutely moral position on it; the same thing with alcohol. At the same time, whatever programme is done, we have to speak about the negative side of marijuana and we have to deal with the educational and health issues attendant upon the misuse and abuse of marijuana.

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