By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL Rastafarian leader has said draft marijuana legislation in the public domain is “unclear” and “repressive” and does not benefit Rastafarians or any Bahamian citizen.

Rithmond McKinney, high priest of the local Rastafarian Bobo Shanti Tribe, raised issues with the proposed law changes yesterday.

Mr McKinney, who also serves as the royal ambassador for the Ethiopian African Black International Congress, spoke to The Tribune from the Rastafarian camp off Fire Trail Road as they celebrated African Liberation Day.

“In The Bahamas as we celebrate this historical day, the Rastafarian community is still in a fight just to be seen as equals in our Bahamaland as we are still fighting for our fundamental human rights,” he said.

“With the present government about to table the new Medical Cannabis Bill 2021, the injustices our communities have faced for over 50 years still exist. We are bluntly trampled on by this unclear repressive bill that’s not designed to benefit not just the Rastafarian community, but the wider Bahamas.”

He has publicly called for Rastafarians to be a part of the marijuana industry when made legal, as they have suffered the most because of the popular herb. He was disappointed by the government’s delay in bringing the proposed bill to Parliament and even moreso that there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Rastafarians to freely smoke marijuana as a religious sacrament.

“The (proposed) amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2021 will now take from a magistrate sentence options to a now mandatory fines sentencing guidelines,” he continued. “These things are just the tip of the iceberg of injustice. These two bills and amendments will further place injustice on the poor and have-nots of our community and society at large.”

He said “freedom and justice” are the cries of the Rastafarian man. Even as they celebrate African Liberation Day, it is a known fact many Rastafarian men have police records, having been charged with possession of dangerous drugs when found with marijuana joints.

The Tribune has previously reported 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 last 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.

However, The Tribune has been told the draft amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act as well as the leaked Medical Cannabis Bill are not final versions.

Among other things, the draft 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.

As far as what Africa Liberation Day means to the Rastafarian, Mr McKinney gave the following excerpt from a speech made by Haile Selassie I, given at the African Unity Summit on May 25, 1963: “Today, we look to the future serenely, confidently and courageously. We look to the vision of an Africa that is not only free, but united. As we face this new challenge, we can draw comfort and encouragement from the lessons of the past. We know that there are differences between us.

“Africans possess different cultures, values and special attributes. But we also know that unity can and has been achieved between men of very different origins, differences of race, religion, culture and tradition are not insurmountable obstacles to the union of the history teaches us that unity is strength and exhorts us to submerge and overcome our differences in the search for common goals, to fight with all our strength together, for true African brotherhood and unity.”