Further to the promises made by the Attorney-General, the Honourable Garth Wilkin, during the most recent sitting of the National Assembly on June 20, 2023, in which a suite of cannabis-related legislation was debated and passed into law, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs has launched a widespread public education campaign dubbed #CannabisClaritySKN.
“Now that the Rastafari Rights Recognition Act, the Freedom of Conscience (Cannabis) Act, the Drugs (Amendment) Act and the Smoking (Designated Areas) Act have been published in the Gazette and are in force, the ministry has turned its energies into educating the general public about these new laws related to Rastafari and personal cannabis cultivation, use and possession in St Kitts & Nevis,” said the Attorney-General, who also serves as the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs.
Attorney-General Wilkin explained the aim of the public education campaign.
“The passage of laws without education and how they work in the real world is problematic. The #CannabisClaritySKN public education campaign is therefore aimed at informing our people and our visitors about what this comprehensive suite of legislation means for them and what are the dos and don’ts with respect to cannabis cultivation, use and possession going forward,” he said.
The epicenter of the public education campaign is the website www.cannabisclarityskn.com, which provides salient and summarized information about the new cannabis-related laws. The Ministry has also launched social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which can be accessed using the tag: @ganjaclarityskn.
“We have summarized the laws into bite-sized information graphics and have engaged local influencers to push the information. We know people are busy, so we tried our best to condense the salient points for ease of consumption,” said the Attorney-General. “Info jingles are also being produced to be aired on radio stations. The whole campaign has been professionally developed by Kittitians and we are proud of this. I encourage everyone to visit the website and to share the #CannabisClaritySKN social media clippings with your friends and neighbours,” implored the Attorney-General.
The website www.cannabisclarityskn.com contains key points, FAQs, a YouTube link to the National Assembly sitting and PDFs of the various cannabis-related laws. Persons with questions about the new laws related to Rastafari and personal cannabis cultivation, use and possession in St Kitts & Nevis can also email CannabisClarity@gov.kn.