By Subhana Shiwmangal
Members of the Rastafarian community yesterday lit and smoked joints across the street from the Office of the President (OP) as part of a protest against the recently passed bill that removes custodial sentences for possession of less than 30 grammes of cannabis.
The group of over a dozen persons demanded that respect be given to the rights of their community by exempting Rastafarians from any type of prosecution under the law when smoking cannabis, which they maintain is used as a sacrament as part of their religion and for self-medication.
While noting that the recently bill passed on Monday fails to recognise their religious rights in keeping with the recommendations of a CARICOM commission on marijuana, they also called for the expunging of the criminal records of those who were previously charged for cannabis.
President of the Guyana Rastafari Council Ras Simeon Selassie told Stabroek News that they were protesting for the religious and cultural rights being denied by the government, which he accused of discrimination.
He said members of the Rastafarian community should be able to practice their culture freely, without any custodial sentence.
Under the recently passed bill, custodial sentences have been removed for persons found with up to 30 grammes of cannabis, with mandatory counselling and community service being the penalty for those held with between 15 and 30 grammes.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who spoke at length on the bill before its passage on Monday, told the House there were petitions from different groups on how to best address any decriminalisation. According to Nandlall, the position arrived at accommodates, in the most balanced way, the competing views and opinions within the four corners of society.
But Ras Khafra, General Secretary of the Guyana Rastafari Council yesterday said that irrespective of all amendments that the government has made to the bill, it has not addressed the core issue of respecting the religious rights of the Rastafarian community as provided for under Article 145 of the Constitution.
For him, the community’s rights must be respected by exempting Rastafarians from any type of prosecution under the law for cannabis as he, too, maintained that its use has always been sacramental.
He further stated that the bill also doesn’t address the recognition of the health benefits of cannabis, which he noted is front and centre across the Caribbean. Instead, he said the government is maintaining unjust and discriminatory laws that target Rastafarians and other African people.
He further said the Rastafarian community is united on the issue and there is no difference of opinion when it comes to their religious beliefs.
Ras Khafra was hopeful that President Irfaan Ali would not assent to the bill and instead sent it back to the National Assembly for more changes. “…Yes it might be a step forward in terms of non-custodial [sentences] but that’s not the main issue,” he said.
He also said the parliamentary committee that reviewed the bill did not heed the submissions it received on the proposed legislation, while maintaining that the government needed to go a step further.
He said with the new law persons would still be held in custody prior to going to court, where the magistrate would refer them for counselling or community service, which he maintained should not include Rastafarians.
Ras Khafra noted that the Rastafarian community has already started to have discussions with two lawyers on the way forward. The lawyers have agreed and have already started to draft something.
While some of the protestors lit up and smoked joints, an officer and other police ranks at the scene cautioned them not to smoke any amount of cannabis in the sight of the public.
