Dear Editor,
On Thursday November 8, 2018 the Rastafari Core Group (RCG), which comprises eight Rastafari groups, met with the Hon. Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Mr. Basil Williams at his chambers. Also in attendance were the Heads of the Legislative Drafting Department the Hon. Chief Parliamentary Counsel Mr. Charles Fung-A-Fat and Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel Ms. Joann Bond.
The discussion revolved around several submissions that were made by the RCG before the meeting, among them being two additions that we inserted into the AFC-sponsored Narcotic Amendment Bill 2015. We maintained the position that as a recognized part of the religious community of Guyana the present Narcotic Act which does not exempt our use of Cannabis as a sacrament is discriminatory and a direct violation of our human and constitutional rights as enshrined in article 145 of our constitution. Therefore, the first submission was made to section (4) (3) (e) of the Principal Act which looks at exemptions from prosecution for possession of a narcotic and should not apply to, “a person who has in his possession a narcotic for religious purposes as a sacrament in adherence to the Rastafari faith.” The second addition looked at the issue of the supply of our sacrament and is made to section (8) of the Principal Act with the insertion “Subsections (1) to (6) shall not apply to – (a) all householads not cultivating more than seven cannabis plants; (c) a Rastafari organization licensed by the relevant authority to grow no more than five acres for sacramental purposes.”
Moreover, we reminded Mr. Williams of the recent report of the fact-finding mission of the Human Rights Commission’s Working Group of experts, which we presented to him. The report states that the Working Group came and “assessed the situation of human rights of people of African descent living in Guyana, and gathered information on any form of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance that they face. As part of its fact-finding mission, the Working Group…met with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, and Members of Parliament, including representatives of the opposition.” We brought to the Minister’s attention the parts of the report which state specifically and unequivocally that the Rastafari community “had been increasingly marginalized in the exercise of their cultural and religious rights, leading to a life of poverty, disease, and illiteracy; they were therefore more vulnerable to many of the social ills that affect the general population.” It therefore, went on to instruct the Government that they “should initiate legal reforms aimed at addressing the cultural and religious rights of the Rastafari community.”
In addition to this, the recent report of the Caricom Marijuana Commission holds a similar position to that of the Working Group’s report. Caricom’s report states that, “cannabis, called ganja by Rastafarians, is their primary sacrament and its ritualized smoking during communal smoking sessions, known as ‘reasoning’ or ‘grounding’, is paramount to their way of life. Ganja is also viewed as the most natural and direct route to communion with God and the Rastafari brethren, and it is used as an essential element in prayer and meditation. Therefore, cannabis is integral to this religion’s identity and prohibition of its use constitutes an extreme invasion on their right to freedom of religion. Legislative changes in Jamaica in 2015, which, as discussed below, exempt Rastafarians from the prohibitive provisions of cannabis/ marijuana regulation, therefore facilitated a paradigmatic shift in the treatment of Rastafarians who were previously liable to all marijuana -related
criminal charges. A policy shift is also discernible in Antigua and Barbuda, with the legislative reform of 2018. The Commission believes that these policy changes are in keeping with the freedom of religion that is protected under the constitutions of all CARICOM states. Future law reform should make provision for this right.” The former Chairperson of the Caricom Marijuana Commission, Ms. Rose Marie Belle Antoine, at a recent University of Guyana’s forum titled “Marijuana and Guyana” at which she was the featured speaker, stated that “Guyana’s Narcotic legislation is one of the most draconian in the Caribbean”, and threw her support behind full legalization of Cannabis in light of the unequal application of the legislation where only the poor and marginalized are prosecuted and sent to jail.
The Hon. Minister in his response indicated that the President has already given his word to the citizens of Guyana and he does not intend to make the President look bad by not acting on the issue. Moreover, they have endorsed the AFC sponsored Narcotic Amendment Bill which has removed any penalty for possession and moved the amount that constitutes trafficking from 15 grams to anything over 200 grams of cannabis. He committed to addressing our specific concerns given the context of the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent and the mandate given to them in relation to ensuring that the objectives of the Decade are achieved.
Yours faithfully,
Ras Khafra
Chairman
