Don’t go there!

The CEO of the cannabis secretariat on a programme on GBN this week, revealed that the cannabis reform is progressing in deliberate phases. The bill passed in January, allowed a number of things. The first is possession where individuals over the age of 21 may possess up to 56 g of cannabis and or up to 15 g of cannabis resin. The second is cultivation where householders are allowed to cultivate up to four cannabis plants for a number of reasons, therapeutic, horticultural, or for their own personal or private use. The third is for sacramental use by the Rastafarian who had been pushing and fighting for that for a very long time. The CEO stated that considering that it is a constitutional right, the cannabis commission felt that it is only correct ethically to join their fight. The fourth she said is the expungement; that as they work along with the rehabilitation of the Offenders Board, criminal records will be cleared.

We believe that the timing for that discussion was in poor taste this week with all the recent crimes committed by young people who are growing up in a state where illegal drugs are easily found and Carnival is in the air with a lot of alcohol available. A recent report from the police has confirmed that some young men one –a teenager, were arrested and charged with such gruesome acts of almost murdering their peers in broad daylight when a Jab Jab Band was attacked at La Fillette. As a result of that, a young man is now in intensive care at the General Hospital struggling to stay alive. He was stabbed in both his back and belly areas when he tried to help his friend who collapsed after receiving a blow to his head. In another issue, a teenager is on remand after being suspected of being responsible for the death of ‘Melva’ recently. Then there was also in the news the story of the young man whose arm was chopped off by a brother when ignored a restraining order to attack his sister. We are bringing this to light this week because quite a lot of people are concerned that too many of our children are using substances that can interfere with the operation of their brain. It is very hard to accept what seems to have become normal behaviour with that kind of violence in our society. The prime minister has shared his observation that there is weakness in parenting. Yet it is simply said in some circles that the onus is on everyone to continue pushing public education and to continue talking to individuals especially our children and young people. Why?

Smoking or public use of cannabis is still illegal in Grenada and it’s against the law to provide cannabis or to give cannabis to anyone under the age of 21. But as we get into our Carnival season –just how will that be managed to get people to act within the boundaries of the law?  Wasn’t Attorney Clouden back in the news reminding people of the rights and wrongs of this whole cannabis issue? We must give kudos to the Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs for showing interest in helping young men as the MANUP!’ initiative which stands for Young Men’s Access to a Nurturing and Upliftment Programme focusing on building confident, responsible, and resilient young men was launched. There certainly is the need for young men to understand just how to ‘Man Up!’ by embracing responsibility, making positive life choices, seeking support when needed, managing emotions especially anger in healthy ways.

While there are those who do not agree that starting on cannabis leads to harder drugs and behavioral problems, interestingly, that programme was developed in response to concerns about the challenges facing boys in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, including emotional distress, anger management difficulties, peer pressure, exposure to drugs and a lack of positive male role models. Evidence gathered by the Probation Unit underscored the need for targeted intervention. The programme was informed by findings from Probation Unit data covering 2023–2025. The data showed that over 90% of probation cases involved boys and that over 90% of those boys had been exposed to or were actively using drugs. These findings, together with identified social and behavioral challenges, highlighted the need for intervention. While people are convinced that most young people who are now on hard drugs have started off with cannabis, is it true that the ruling party campaigned on legalizing the use of the herb?

The government most likely was guided by the consensus of CMO Dr Sean Charles, Josh Hector who acts in the capacity of Director of Mental Health and substance use under the ministry of mental health, Chairman Anselm Clouden and ACP Cohen -the assistant commissioner of police who formed the working committee. But wasn’t it made clear that the development of the brain tends to be stunted with the abuse of some substances, cannabis being one? It was also revealed that the frontal lobe of our brain develops fully at or around the age of 26. Yet, it was decided that 21 would be the best bet because it’s not too close to 18 nor too far away from 26.

In taking a deep look at the issue before tossing it on society, the prime minister must take note that a Kenyan High Court has dismissed a petition by Rastafarians seeking to legalize the use of marijuana for religious purposes.

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