Dear Editor,
According to a report in the August 2, 2017 edition of the online news magazine ‘News Source’ , a 25-year old father of eight children, Mr Derick Persaud, was charged and refused bail for the possession of two ounces of marijuana. Editor, it is time that we as a nation put an end to this absurdity and rectify this unjust system that disproportionately leads to the incarceration of people from low-income communities.
Our citizens and policy-makers need to be bold and creative in formulating and passing appropriate legislation that addresses this cruel and unreasonable chastisement that imposes an enormous cost on human potential, families, taxpayers and our communities.
It is time we revisit and hurriedly table the proposed Michael Carrington parliamentary bill to uproot the provisions of the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Control Act 1988 and remove all penalties for small amounts of marijuana possession.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
