After much consideration, analytical review, and discussions with many people throughout our society, as well as listening to the voices of our people through social, electronic, and print media, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has concluded that the time has come for Grenada to adopt the recommendations of the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana, as outlined in their 2018 report, ”Waiting To Exhale - Safeguarding Our Future Through Responsible Socio-Legal Policy On Marijuana.”
The NDC hereby endorses the recommendations of the report and calls on the government to take the necessary action to amend and enact legislation as necessary, to make the implementation of the relevant sections of the report possible. At the same time, we call on everyone, to respect the existing laws, while they are in place, and join us in advocating for change.
The National Democratic Congress commits to the decriminalization of marijuana / cannabis and other recommendations of the Caricom commission. We are satisfied that sufficient quality work was done in reaching the conclusions and that we do not have to reinvent the wheel, but rather, discuss the aspects we think would be beneficial to our people, our economy and ultimately, our society.
If this present administration fails to act on the recommendations of the report, and refuses to decriminalize cannabis, as well as establish the framework to study and implement the recommendations which are supported by the people, the NDC commits to do so as a priority on forming the government.
We are satisfied that too many young people‘s lives have been disrupted because of a conviction for a small quantity of cannabis; we therefore commit to a review of past convictions with the aim of expunging the criminal records of people with conviction for small quantities of that substance, in keeping with the recommendations.
We hereby call for a widening of the conversation which is already taking place, to include the religious community, the medical community, educational institutions and other stakeholders on the process of making this a reality.
As a preparatory step to rendering marijuana as a legal substance, the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana recommended the decriminalization of the drug for personal use in private premises and medical purposes. The Commission also recommended the declassification of marijuana as a dangerous drug in all legislation and the reclassification of the drug as a controlled substance. The NDC supports this.
The time has come to move forward on this issue and the NDC will provide the leadership. We therefore invite all supporters of this initiative to stand with the NDC and defend this policy in the interest of our people.