Discouraging smoking of all substances in public places is the aim of the government, according to President David Granger, who on Friday said that marijuana could be added to the existing legislation if needs be.
“Well it could be. There is no place to do that at present but what we do know is that the use of marijuana would not, after the (planned amending) legislation is passed would not incur custodial sentence”, he said, when asked if the smoking of marijuana may be added to the tobacco legislation in keeping with the no smoking in public places agenda.
Granger at the time was addressing questions from the media shortly after delivering the feature address at the opening of the 50th Meeting of the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
The president stated that that there seems to be a contradiction between curbing smoking in public places and the plan to remove the custodial sentence for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
“Well our health experts were concerned that on the one hand we are moving towards reducing smoking in public places and elsewhere and discouraging smoking in all sectors of the population, at the same time there is a movement to encourage the use of marijuana so I think there is a contradiction there and from a health point of view, our government, our Ministry of Public Health, is still inclined to discourage smoking, all types of substances, tobacco or marijuana”, he told reporters.
The landmark Tobacco Control Bill 2017, which will target smoking in indoor public places and ban advertising of tobacco products, was passed in July last year by a vote of 32 to one with 23 abstentions.
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, in whose name the bill was laid, told the House that the passage of the bill was instrumental to Guyana’s quest to achieve Sustainable Developm-ental Goal (SDG) three.
She noted that this goal, which is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing, is a key priority of government, and stressed that the legislation will assist the country in reducing by one-third, premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2030, as well as fulfilling Guyana’s obligations under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
The majority of those who appear before the court for small amounts of marijuana have said that they had it for personal use.
Two Fridays ago during his press conference, Granger announced that Cabinet has approved the removal of custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana and the necessary amendments to existing legislation will be made after the National Assembly returns from recess next month.
Concerns have been raised about the lengthy sentences given to persons caught with small amounts of cannabis. In many cases, such persons receive the same sentence as those caught with large quantities of either cannabis or cocaine. In wake of the widespread outrage that was triggered in May by the sentencing of Carl Mangal to three years in jail for the possession of 8.4 grammes of cannabis for trafficking, parliamentarian Michael Carrington and the Alliance For Change (AFC) renewed calls for the repeal of heavy custodial sentences for possession of small quantities.
Subsequently, Granger said that the removal of custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of cannabis is on the cards for Guyana.
