Medical and religious use to be legalised and small amounts decriminalised

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas moved closer to legalising cannabis for medical and religious use while decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana yesterday when the Davis administration tabled a long-awaited compendium of bills in the House of Assembly. 

The 11 bills were mainly identical to the ones the administration released for consultation last year.

However, notable changes have been made to the religious use of cannabis and the role of pharmacists. The bills also disclose for the first time the cost of licences under the cannabis regime. Initial licence fees would range from $1,000 to $5,000, while annual licence fees would range from $500 to $14,712, depending on the license type.

Members of the Rastafarian community had criticised the previous draft bills for limiting cannabis use to a tabernacle or place of worship, with many practitioners saying it is uncommon for the substance to be used in such areas.

Under the latest bills, people unaffiliated with a Rastafarian organisation can get an individual licence permitting them to consume cannabis in a secured area in a private residence as a sacrament. Rastafarian organisations must be incorporated as non-profit organisations to obtain a religious organisation licence. 

Rastafarians who get an individual licence cannot use the substance in a public place, distribute or sell it to another person, or possess more than 30 grams at any one time. Similar rules apply to Rastafarian organisations.

Unlike the draft bills, the revised legislation guarantees a position on the Bahamas Cannabis Board to a member of the Rastafarian faith. That board would manage the Bahamas Cannabis Authority, overseeing all aspects of cannabis regulation, including creating policies, issuing licenses and ensuring law compliance. The board would comprise representatives from government, medical and pharmaceutical professions, agricultural, business, and finance sectors, academia, and the faith-based and civil society communities.

The revised legislation allow medical practitioners to prescribe cannabis to patients from other countries without performing in-person medical assessments as long as that patient presents a medical cannabis card from a recognised jurisdiction like Canada, Australia, Barbados and several states in the United States of America. 

Under the cannabis regime, licences include a cultivation licence to permit the growing, harvesting and packaging of cannabis; a transport licence to deliver cannabis within the country; a manufacturing licence for the manufacturing and packaging of cannabis and cannabis accessories; a retail licence to sell cannabis and cannabis accessories for medical, scientific research and religious purposes; a religious licence; and an analytical testing licence.

Cultivation, retail, transport and religious use licences would be reserved for Bahamian citizens 21 years or older or companies that are one hundred per cent beneficially owned by one or more Bahamian citizens.

Analytical testing licences, manufacturing licences and research licences could be obtained by entities for which one or more Bahamian citizens beneficially owns at least 30 per cent of the company.

The initial fees for cultivation, religious and transport licences are $1,000.

For manufacturing, retail and research licences, the initial fee is $3,000.

For an analytical testing licence, the initial fee is $5000.

Non-refundable religious use annual licence fees are $1000 for organisations and $500 for individuals.

For cultivation purposes, the non-refundable annual licence fee is $2944 for nurseries, $9,800 for micro-cultivation and $12,600 for standard cultivation.

The non-refundable annual fees for manufacturing, analytical testing, research, transport and retail licences are $14,712, $7,356, $7356, $9,800 and $14,712, respectively. The transport licence fee of $14,712 applies for up to three vehicles. For each additional vehicle, the fee is $7,400.

For licences, there are administrative fees for security vetting, electronic database and tracking software service and inspection fees; the costs range from $2,400 to $200.

Key provisions that are unchanged in the new bills include that those found with more than five hundred grams of dried cannabis would be presumed to possess the substance intending to supply it to others and could face a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both. Possessing cannabis with the intent to supply it to a minor could carry a stiffer penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment.

Those who supply, sell or distribute cannabis could face various penalties depending on whether they are convicted on information or through summary conviction. In the first instance, they could face a fine of $100,000, imprisonment for up to seven years, or both. For a summary conviction, they could be fined up to $50,000, imprisoned up to five years, or both.

Under the legislation, it would also be unlawful to promote cannabis or cannabis accessories.

Legislation amending the Dangerous Drug Act to reclassify cannabis as a controlled substance and not a “dangerous drug” is part of the compendium of bills.

“This change aligns our national laws with evolving global perspectives on cannabis, acknowledging its medical value based on current scientific evidence,” Dr Darville said after tabling the bills in the House of Assembly yesterday. 

He said the legislation represented a thoughtful and balanced approach to introducing a new medical solution to our healthcare landscape.

 He said the bills were a “beacon of hope” for countless Bahamians who are battling cancer and need alternative treatments for pain management and other related issues.

“These patients look to us, their elected representatives, to make decisions that can dramatically improve the quality of their lives,” he said. “They trust us to act with courage, guided by compassion and informed by evidence.”

“Let us be clear: the path we propose today with the introduction of medical cannabis is one marked by rigorous controls, free of political colours and a deep commitment to public health. But it is also a path paved with stories of individual mothers and fathers who might finally receive the relief they desperately need. It is these personal stories, these individual faces, that must guide our actions.”

“Licensing is structured to prioritise Bahamian ownership, with provisions ensuring that significant control remains in the hands of Bahamian nationals, fostering local entrepreneurship and economic benefits across the country.”