BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – he regional conversation on the decriminalisation of cannabis would appear to be firmly re-fixed again in the public domain. We use the term “re-fixed” advisedly since, while the latest initiative in this context might be reasonably attributed to the Honourable Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, readers may recall an earlier suggestion to similar effect by one of our puisne judges, Mr. Justice Randall Worrell, as well as sundry others over the years from individuals such as the late Dr. Ikael Tafari, the late Jamaican reggae artiste, Mr. Peter (Peter Tosh) McIntosh who melodically urged officialdom to “legalise it”, and founder of the Playboy empire, Mr. Hugh Hefner, among others.
To be fair to him, Dr. Gonsalves has sought to make it clear that he is not suggesting wholesale decriminalisation, but decriminalisation for medical purposes only. He is reported to have told a press conference, “As you notice, I am not calling for the decriminalisation of ganja…the longer we wait to give serious regional consideration to this subject, the further behind we will lag in the inevitable legitimisation of medical marijuana globally…In the end, our Caribbean would consume the medical/health, cosmetic and other products derived from marijuana legally grown and produced in the USA…I am calling for an informed discussion on medical marijuana as a commercial industry, as has happened in the United States…”
