By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (Monday 12th September 2022) — Newly-appointed Attorney General Garth Wilkin has pointed to the current provisions of the law which speak to the Rastafarian community and other adults, advising that it is not a ‘free de herb’ situation, while providing insight about what is still illegal as the government reviews legislation. Appearing on FreedomFM’s ‘Issues’ programme on Thursday 8th September 2022, he publicly reported: “I have already written to the Commissioner of Police instructing the police force to respect the current cannabis-related laws and the constitutional rights declared in the May 2019 decision made in the High Court of Ras Sankofa Maccabee and the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General.”
He explained the government’s plans: “What the Cabinet decided, which was included in the post-Cabinet release dated 30th August, was that we’re going to review the laws decriminalising possession and cultivation of certain quantities of marijuana in the federation. We’re going to initiate the long-anticipated marijuana industry to create entrepreneurs, economic activity and to diversify the Federation’s tourism product. We’re going to table legislation to permit the court to expunge the criminal records of persons convicted in the past for minor marijuana offences, because if you decide to move forward with a marijuana industry, the persons who were punished for minor marijuana offenses in the past must get their records clear.” On what the 2019 High Court ruling established: “The court said those two laws — against possession and cultivation — are unconstitutional if they do not carve out a way for Rastafarians to cultivate and possess marijuana for religious use by adults as part of their religion. The same thing applies to adults who smoke in a private place. It is illegal still to smoke marijuana in a public place. If you are in possession in public, it is a ticketable offence,” the AG clarified.