General Secretary of the opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Joseph Harmon has revealed the likely contents of the Party’s 2015 elections manifesto ahead of its publication.

Harmon, while responding to questions from News Source on Friday, said the partnership remains committed to considering the legalization of marijuana and a review of sentencing policies.

The hope is that once the APNU forms the next government after the May 11 elections, it will commission a study on the matter that will give advice to the issue which the local Rastafarian community is holding as its bargaining chip for who gets their support.

Harmon, who is also an Attorney at law and former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Officer, said the APNU is generally committed to ensuring the energies of all Guyanese are utilized for the building and development of the country.

“To extent that we have a large group of young men in prisons across this country for minor offense in relation to marijuana requires some amount of review,” he said.

He clarified that the aim of the review is to ultimately see results for the legalization of marijuana here.

 “We are not like the PPP [People’s Progressive Party] saying it will never happen or like Rohee has said it will never happen,” Harmon said while explaining that the world is moving in the direction of legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing the possession of small amounts and opined that Guyana needs to be cognizance of world trends in this regard.

The Jamaican cabinet recently approved a bill that legalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana in that country.

It means that for the first time the country’s Rastafarian community, which uses the herb for religious purposes, could be able to smoke it legally.

The bill also envisages a licensing authority for the cultivation, sale and distribution of marijuana for medical and therapeutic purposes.

However, the concern is that South and Central America and the Caribbean countries have been battling the impact of drug trafficking and drug use for decades.

Cocaine and marijuana produced in the region is transported through many countries and citizens turned into consumers by the trade.

CARICOM Heads of Government have agreed to set up a commission that will examine social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding marijuana use in the Region.

Filed: 6th February 2015

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