By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Rastafarian community want to see “special provisions” put in place for them as it relates to the manufacturing and cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use once legislation has been passed.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced earlier this month the government is currently completing legislation to legalise medicinal marijuana.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, head of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress (EABIC) Bahamas branch, Priest Rithmond McKinney said while the community supports the move, they want assurance Rastafarians will be a part of the marijuana industry when made legal, as they have suffered the most because of the criminalisation of the popular herb.

The government’s Economic Recovery Committee (ERC), in its report late last year, recommended all Bahamas-based companies involved in the production, manufacturing, sale and export of cannabis must have a “minimum” of 50 percent Bahamian ownership.

Priest McKinney said: “We’re hearing on the street and through the grapevine that it will only be for the elites and certain persons are only in motion so we’re waiting to see the outcome from the government.

“We’ve been victimised, profiled and incarcerated for years so we feel as though that we should be a part of the economic programme going forward and I think special provisions should be set for us because we’ve been saying for a very long time that this is something that’s good for the human body. So, we’re hoping and demanding our fundamental rights in the (medicinal) cannabis industry and when it comes to our sacramental rights.

“We declared repeatedly that we should be included and so we’re waiting to see and I think our community will have a call on the Prime Minister so we can have some talks and they can tell us where we are in this whole industry going forward.”

He said the community also will be waiting to hear about business licence requirements pertaining to the medical cannabis industry.

He continued: “Concerning the export, we’re looking to that because it sounds very good but who all will be able to participate when it comes to exporting and doing this because you need to be certified and have the proper facilities…so we hope that the majority will be able to benefit for those who get into the business and we hope the small man can benefit.’”

As it relates to the issue of the drug being made legal for sacramental use, he said members are still anxiously waiting to receive word from the Prime Minister on the matter.

On Friday, Priest McKinney along with other spokespersons from the Rastafarian community met with Attorney General Carl Bethel and other officials to discuss the proposed legislation.

The group has been agitating for marijuana reform for several years.

The Minnis administration has said it is working “aggressively” to have the records expunged for those found with small amounts of marijuana.

However, given officials’ promise, the religious leader questioned why young Bahamians are still being hauled before the courts for marijuana possession and burdened with criminal records.

He said: “We went to the AG’s Office on Friday because now for the last couple months, we feel like it’s a relentless campaign against the Rasta man now and they’ve been profiled and locked up for small amounts and people’s houses have still been wrecked and searched for small amounts of marijuana and they’re still being pulled before the courts.

“. . .So we were saying for the last couple months to use your discretion seeing that something is coming and we was pleading on the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of National Security to really use some sort of discretion but that hasn’t happened so we went to the Attorney General and spoke to him about it and he said that’s something that they should look at it.”