The legislation to decriminalise marijuana (ganja) is set to be tabled in the National Assembly tomorrow.
The issue of amending the laws relating to the decriminalisation of marijuana continues to engage the halls of public debate since the idea was presented by Attorney Nigel Hughes.
The proposition had received mixed responses from the Guyanese when it was announced that the government will be revising the law which punishes persons who are found in possession of small amounts of the drug for their personal usage.
Some Guyanese, such as the Rastafarians, applauded this motion while others criticized the government for contemplating such a bill.
This new bill, called the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Bill 2015, proposes for persons who are found with marijuana, not for the purpose of trafficking, to be sentenced to a lesser time in prison or to pay a fine which will be decided by the court.
Should the bill become a law, persons who are found in possession of the drug for personal uses will be required to pay a fine of $10,000 or to perform community service for a period of time.
However, persons found with excess marijuana for the purpose of trafficking will have to face the full penalty, which is three years imprisonment minimum.
It is a natural herb so legalize it. Stop putting people in jail for foolishness.
Firstly, This isn’t decriminalizing or legalizing. It’s a reduction of sentencing. Which in fact doesn’t solve any problems. Police will be more than happy to accept a bribe below $10,000 by anyone found in possession of the stated amount and not wanting to go through the court process – and that really only benefits those who have that kind of disposable income. Secondly, legalizing will reduce the cost of housing prisoners convicted for possession of weed (which YOUR taxes pay for) and open space in prisons for serious crime offenders. If your lord and saviour Ramjattan was to make a good suggestion it would be to decriminalize and regulate, implement no smoking in most public places, allow for certain businesses and bars to have a non-smoking/smoking section. Allow for legitimate argi-production of the plant and by-products (hemp, hemp oils etc) which not only provides jobs, cheaper resources,investment opportunity and potential commercialization but done properly can ensure quality control of the substance.
If something is legal then no penalty or punishment is attach to it, are you aware that; if the bill turn law then you are still going to be fine $10,000 an community works… the aim of the bill is to reduce the build-up in prison with persons who are charge for having very small quantity of Ganja..
The current PNC regime cannot even control the crime rate and want to legalize Gajna? Where is Ramjattan? He ban clubs selling liquor after 2am but legalize Ganja? This is more to show that the current PNC regime will never change. Dictator ship continues to flourish and the people of Guyana continue to perish! Anyone who reads the news will learn that Guyana crime spree has been way out of control and instead of pardoning prisoners and legalizing Ganja,….think of proper ways to curb the crime rate.