Caribbean community to propose model for legalizing recreational cannabis in the region

Caribbean leaders recently met within the regional organization CARICOM for the 19th Heads of State Conference on Security. On this occasion, they committed to drafting a model text for the legalization of recreational cannabis in the region. Each member state remains free to legislate on the issue, but this decision sends a strong signal that the region intends to evolve on the subject.

Cannabis, a regional issue in the Caribbean

The European Community or CARICOM, a supranational organization that brings together some fifteen Caribbean nations, had launched in 2016 a series of national consultations on the legalization of cannabis and set up a regional commission. After two years of investigation, the commission in question has submitted its results to CARICOM. Today, Caribbean leaders seem to have taken the commission's suggestions on board, deciding to draft a model text that paves the way for the legalization of recreational cannabis in the region.

“At our recent security meeting, CARICOM took the decision to develop a model law for the legalization of recreational cannabis. This law does not bind any state, but the fact is that as a region, I think our leaders recognize that there is an inexorable movement towards allowing people to possess small amounts of cannabis for recreational use,» explains Barbados' Minister of Justice, Dale Marshall, to Barbados Today.

«Jamaica has moved in this direction, Antigua and Barbuda is already moving in this direction, and I don't need to remind anyone that Canada and many American states have legalized recreational cannabis. We can't keep burying our heads in the sand. There is a reality and social issues here that we recognize,» he added.

Despite this regional initiative, member states remain sovereign on the issue. The island of Barbados - which is also getting ready to the legalization of medical cannabis - has decided, for example, to hold a referendum on the legalization of recreational cannabis, like New Zealand. Other CARICOM members have already undertaken to legalize medical cannabis. These include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In Europe, although the question of recreational cannabis has not yet arisen, the European Union has already taken the initiative. voted a resolution on medical cannabis last February.