Picture: Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), the Hon.Joseph Parry
Charlestown, Nevis (March 23, 2017) After nearly a year of singlehandedly leading the national debate to decriminalize cannabis, and having to bravely withstand the merciless ridicule and opposition of the Team Unity Government, news broke on March 18, 2017 (Times Caribbean) that Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris has caved in to public demand and now intends to establish a “Ganja Commission”, to look into the matter and report back to Cabinet.
The PM’s casual announcement was devoid of details on the full composition of the commission viz-a-viz those who support and those against, how the commission will engage the public, when it will become operational, when their report will be concluded and presented to Cabinet, and any possible policy outcomes based on recommendations captioned in the report.
Furthermore, it is very unclear whether the key partner in the Unity Government – CCM, is supportive of the abrupt about face and if so, will the CCM establish it’s own “Ganja Commission” or hide behind the Commission announced by Prime Minister Harris. This indeed would be a bitter pill for the CCM leadership to swallow given their unequivocal and belligerent opposition to decriminalize cannabis, going so far as to dismiss as nonsense NRP’s assertion that the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has Constitutional jurisdiction over cannabis cultivation.
NRP will continue to be an unyielding advocate for the decriminalizing of cannabis for recreational, religious, medical and industrial use. NRP strongly believes that the decriminalization of cannabis, guided by effective and enforceable regulations will yield tangible socio-economic benefits for our nation. In addition, the NRP is determined to put an end to the prosecution of our people for small amounts of marijuana. The resulting convictions, high fines and criminal records limit their full potential in the future.
We shall continue to play the leading role in the ensuing discussions and applaud all the persons who participated as speakers as well as those who attended our two symposiums on Marijuana.
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