No one should go to jail for taking a smoke – AFC MP

January 6, 2016 By , GuyanaTime,  http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/2016/01/06/no-one-should-go-to-jail-for-taking-a-smoke-afc-mp/

Ganja Bill to be tabled Thursday

The issue of amending the laws relating to the decriminalization of marijuana continues to engage the halls of public debate since the idea was presented by Attorney Nigel Hughes.

The proposition had received mixed responses from the Guyanese when it was announced that the government will be revising the law which punishes persons who are found in possession of small amounts of the drug for their personal usage.

Some Guyanese, such as the Rastafarians, applauded this motion while others criticized the government for contemplating such a bill.

This new bill, called the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Bill 2015, proposes for persons who are found with marijuana, not for the purpose of trafficking, to be sentenced to a lesser time in prison or to pay a fine which will be decided by the court.

AFC Parliamentarian Michael Carrington in an interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday was in full support of the amending of the law.

Carrington stated that after Nigel Hughes’s proposition they had reviewed the law and found it to be “too strict”.
“These laws are too strict for persons who are found with small amounts of marijuana. The same amount of years someone gets sentenced to for trafficking cocaine, is the same amount for when they are found with an excess of 15 grams of the drug” Carrington pointed out.

According to him, most of the persons who are charged and sent to jail for such trivial issues are young people who should not be in jail but rather be in school acquiring an education or building a productive career.
“Nobody should be sent to jail for just taking a smoke” he stated.

These young people, he explained, often end up being in cells with “hardened criminals”, and subsequent to their release, they too might end up becoming “hardened criminals”
Carrington pointed out that jailing persons because they are found with marijuana is senseless. In his opinion, the law is just “using young people to deter others from using marijuana” which he sees as ineffective.

Questioned about whether A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) MPs  were against the proposing of the bill by Alliance For Change( AFC) member Nigel Hughes, Carrington stated that he is unaware of any conflict rising out of the proposition, and that the coalition is in unison on the matter.

Should the bill become a law, he disclosed, persons who are found in possession of the drug for personal uses will be required to pay a fine of $10,000 or to perform community service for a period of time.

However, persons found with excess marijuana for the purpose of trafficking will have to face the full penalty, which is three years imprisonment minimum.

Commenting on if he thinks the government will consider Ras Rueben’s suggestions on producing marijuana in order to boost the country’s economy, Carrington responded “I can’t say for now. We are taking this one step at a time”
Carrington clarified that he does not think that the government will be legalising marijuana, since there has been no debate or discussions thus far about doing that.

The bill is set to be debated on this Thursday in Parliament.

“We might make a decision on Thursday, or we might just continue debating on it. It all depends on the said moment” Carrington commented.

The legislation to decriminalise marijuana had gained public interest after a national football coach; Vibert Butts was incarcerated for the possession of 46 grams of marijuana. He was sentenced to three years in prison. However his sentence is being appealed.