By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunmedia.net

PEOPLE who are caught with two ounces of cannabis or less would face a fixed penalty of $500 if a draft amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act which circulated this week becomes law.

The penalty, if finalised, would be one of the largest fines in the region among countries that have decriminalised small amounts of marijuana. The maximum fine in St Vincent and the Grenadines for having two ounces of cannabis or less is $185 while the fine in Jamaica is only $5. Some Caribbean countries offer no penalties for possessing specified amounts of marijuana.

Valentino Elliot, the president of Marijuana Bahamas, a cannabis advocacy group, said yesterday that government officials assured his group during a meeting last month that the leaked bill is not the final version of the legislation.

He said they met Attorney General Carl Bethel, Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Michael Pintard and others in April through Zoom to discuss the draft amendment and the draft Medicinal Cannabis Bill, which was also leaked this week.

Asked yesterday if the leaked draft is the final version of the document, Attorney General Carl Bethel said: “No comment on any leaked document.”

Among other things, the bill does not give special rights to Rastafarians and other religious groups to possess or cultivate cannabis as the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana recommended in its 2020 report.

The bill, Mr Elliot said, “closed off the industrial, religious and recreational uses of marijuana and only concentrates on the medicinal purposes. That was one of the primary concerns we had with it.”

He said his group also asked officials to change the $500 fine for possessing two ounces of cannabis or less, saying the fine is too hefty.

It would remain illegal to possess any amount of marijuana for non-medical purposes in The Bahamas if the draft legislation passes Parliament and is enacted. However, people caught with two ounces or less of the substance would be given a notice similar to what traffic violators receive when they commit offences. They would not be arrested or detained.

According to the draft bill, people would have 30 days from the date of their notice to pay their penalty to the Public Treasury in New Providence or in Grand Bahama or to any Magistrate’s Court or Administrator’s Office on other islands.

Police officers can refer people to the National Drug Council or another body prescribed by the minister if a person in possession of two ounces of cannabis or less is either under 18 or is older than 18 but has received a fixed penalty notice more than once within a three month period.

People who do not pay the fixed penalty would be required to perform unpaid work for no fewer than 40 hours and no more than 360 hours as specified by courts. Judges can fine such people $1,000 if they are not satisfied that arrangements can be made for them to perform work under an order or for them to be properly supervised.

Under the draft bill, people who have more than two ounces of cannabis could still face severe punishment, including up to ten years in prison or a fine not exceeding $100,000.

Last year, the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana recommended decriminalising possession of up to one ounce of marijuana but did not recommend a penalty for being caught with that amount.

In New York, the penalty for two ounces of marijuana or less is a fine that ranges from $50 to $200. In Dominica, people over 18 are allowed to have up to 28 grams of marijuana without penalty. In Trinidad & Tobago, there are no penalties for possession of under 30 grams of marijuana.

Renaldo Cartwright, the founder of Marijuana Bahamas, said yesterday that a $500 fine for possession of two ounces of marijuana or less would be “ridiculous”.

“It disenfranchises people who are poor,” he said. “They don’t have no money to pay the fine. And why [are] we giving Bahamians any fines for a joint or two joints? They [are] trying to make it seem like they [are] doing us a favour by saying it isn’t an arrestable (sic) offence but I feel like it doesn’t make a difference.”

Mr Cartwright also criticised the fact that the bill does not allow people to cultivate small amounts of cannabis plants at their place of residence for non-medical purposes as is allowed in some countries that have decriminalised possession of small amounts marijuana, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica.

The Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana recommended that cannabis be legalised as a sacrament for Rastafarians and other groups that use the substance as such. The commission further recommended that such groups be allowed to cultivate cannabis for sacramental use in zoned or regulated areas. However, the leaked bill does not accommodate these recommendations; it does not allow people to possess marijuana for religious purposes.