Cabinet approves decision to amend law on custodial sentencing for small amounts of marijuana – AG Nandlall

During a recent interview, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall announced that Cabinet has approved the decision to amend Guyana’s law to remove custodial sentencing for small quantities of cannabis.
The AG noted too, that deliberations are still ongoing on the quantity that would not attract a jail sentence. The previous A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition Opposition just weeks ago submitted a Bill to the National Assembly to amend sections of the Narcotics Act to have jail time removed for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Nandlall deemed the move by the Coalition a desperate attempt to gain “cheap political points.”
“This is nothing but a political gimmick. I say so because what they are doing there is simply reacting to the fact that we have made it public,” Minister Nandlall posited.
Back in 2016, AFC Member of Parliament, Michael Carrington first laid the Bill to amend the Narcotics Act. According to Nandlall, the then Coalition government made no move to have it debated or pushed on the agenda.

“The President at the time, Mr. Granger, I believe, rejected it. So now that they see that the PPP is pushing it and that we have galvanized great support for the measure, they come now foolishly trying to present themselves as the one to table the Bill for the first time in the Parliament,” he added.
Government is being guided by the statistics provided by the Director of Prisons on the number of inmates incarcerated for marijuana possession, in order to determine the quantity that could be exempt from custodial sentencing.

The issue of decriminalization the possession of small amounts of cannabis has been a contentious issue over the years as lengthy sentences were handed to persons caught with small amounts of the illicit drug. In fact, those sentences equate to the hefty years handed to those caught with large amounts of either cannabis or cocaine.

The Coalition had campaigned on this prior to its 2015 win but later on, after being elected, former President David Granger changed tack. In late 2015, Granger had stated that it would have been “quite contradictory” if government conceded to decriminalizing cannabis while also pushing for legislation to prohibit smoking in public places.

“I don’t want to state a government position but as far as I can see…it is contradictory to work towards banning smoking which is known to be a leading cause of death worldwide and decriminalize smoking at the same time,” he had said.
Later on, in 2018 he had announced that Cabinet had approved the removal of custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana, noting that the needed amendments to the existing legislation would be done after the Parliament returned from recess but nothing came to fruition from that promise.
On the 2020 campaign trail, Granger appeared to change tack again, urging the youths at a Linden political rally against the idleness of smoking and planting cannabis but to engage in value-added cultivation.

It should be noted that Guyana had previously committed to the Caribbean Community after a regional report on cannabis use, that it would pass legislation to lessen the penalties for the possession of small quantities of marijuana use for religious use. That report was issued during the Granger administration yet no move was made to make the recommended changes to Guyana’s legislation.