peter.christistopher@guardian.co.tt
Optimistic after Thursday’s announcement by Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, cannabis activist Nazma Muller sat in the Parliament gallery as the AG laid two pieces of legislation in Parliament, the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill and the Cannabis Control Bill, which will pave the way for the decriminalisation of marijuana.
The optimism with which Muller entered the chamber turned to outrage as she left.
“I am trying to control my anger and outrage about what is being done around Cannabis, one of the most amazing and beneficial plants on the planet.
“I was absolutely disgusted by the delivery of the first reading of this bill,” she said after leaving the Parliamentary chamber yesterday.
Muller said: “People will, of course be very glad, because we’ve been repressed so long. The regime has been so punitive, so prohibitionist, that just this little glimmer of no arrest, it seems to be something to celebrate,” but she was far from convinced that the bills were progressive enough to foster the development of a cannabis industry in this country.”
“What the Attorney General has in fact done is shackled us. He is saying, on one hand, he is freeing up the jails, he is freeing up the police service but at the same time with these clauses, he is putting restraints still on production,” the activist said.
She felt that based on what had been developed in foreign territories, the initial offering from the Attorney General seemed lacking.
“Looking at the package of bills that the Attorney General spent so long putting together, the speed at which the Cannabis industry has been moving—because this plant has been used for thousands of years—and you know have the cutting edge technology being used in Israel, the US, Canada, all through Europe.
“We are so far behind in terms of research and development, product development,” she said.
“With these still kind of punitive measures where a mother could be fined up to $250,000 for giving her child cannabis. Where have we progressed? In terms of the licensing? We know our public service, this is going to be a whole set of red tape, how long is everything going to take? It took Jamaica four years to get to the point where it now has six dispensaries. Are we going to wait four years again? “
Her fear was also that the matter was being politicised.
To counter this she announced that a newly-formed group—the Trinidad and Tobago Union of Ganja Farmers—will continue protesting outside Parliament every Friday.
“How do you tell a person, who has spent ten years in jail for cultivating marijuana he now has to get a licence, and he has to pay X amount for that licence? And he has to follow all these regulations and guidelines?
“No sir, we’re not taking that, we’re going to fight this until we get total legalisation. We don’t mind regulation and certification and testing if they want to commercialise, but the average man on the street must be allowed,” she said.
Other activists, however, have reserved comment on the matter until they learn more about the legalisation.
But yesterday, Pundit Satyanand Maharaj of the Aranguez United Farmers Association welcomed the Attorney General’s initial statements on the bill which he said “signalled not only the discrimination of cannabis but also the facilitation of cultivation and monetising of the herb.”
Maharaj, however, warned the AG against using cut and paste legislation from foreign countries which have not led to industries being realised.
“For example, in Jamaica where decriminalisation of cannabis has resulted in a freeing up of the courts, the concurrent cultivation legislation requires such excessive demands that not a single licence has been granted or ganja farm operationalised.
“Additionally, the legislation should not be so cumbersome in its requirements that only the wealthy could afford to establish a farm,” he said.