SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – No doubt they expected it. But still, there was probably an audible sigh of relief from Jamaican Government officials when US President Barack Obama publicly endorsed the decriminalisation of small quantities of ganja during his visit to Kingston last week.

Even while warning against any move towards the legalisation of the weed, the US president told a youth forum at the Mona Campus, University of the West Indies that the policy of locking up ganja smokers and other drug users had been counterproductive.

“The so-called war on drugs has been so heavy in emphasising incarceration that it has been counterproductive. You have young people who did not engage in violence, who get very long penalties and are placed in prison and then are rendered economically unemployable, or almost pushed into the underground economy and learn crime more effectively in prison,” Obama said.

That would have been music to the ears of Justice Minister Mark Golding and his legal technocrats who crafted the Bill to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act, decriminalising ganja for medicinal, religious, scientific and therapeutic purposes. Similar arguments have been repeatedly used by Golding, National Security Minister Peter Bunting and other Government as well as Opposition spokesmen in pushing the decriminalisation law.

The proposed legislation has been cleared by Parliament, signed by the Governor General and is expected to become law soon. The decades-old campaign to legalise, or at the very least decriminalise ganja reached a new phase in early 2013 when North East St Elizabeth MP Raymond Pryce tabled a motion which eventually bore fruit in the imminent decriminalisation law.

As Golding and Bunting told a forum in Treasure Beach, South West St Elizabeth in February, legislators had to be constantly looking over their shoulder to ensure they remained on the straight and narrow in dealing with the ganja Bill.

Golding said that the Government had to consider its obligations as signatory to international drug enforcement treaties, as well as the United States which has long battled to curtail the trafficking of ganja to its shores.

While a number of US states have moved to decriminalise and even legalise ganja, the US federal government and its Drug Enforcement Agency remain vehemently opposed.

Golding told his Treasure Beach audience that the Jamaican legislation “…seeks to navigate the terrain of the international drug enforcement treaties, which most countries, including Jamaica, have signed on to. The UN single convention on narcotic drugs treats cannabis (ganja) as a dangerous drug…

“Jamaica being a signatory to those conventions; a small island state in the Caribbean close to the United States; well known for many years as a transhipment point for illegal substances; a producer of ganja exported to North America and Europe and so on; we need to ensure that the way we approach this is lawful in the international sense of that word”.

Bunting was more direct in warning Jamaicans against the view that legislators could have gone further by actually legalising ‘weed’, following in the footsteps of Uruguay or the US state of Colorado.

“People will say how come Colorado can do this or Uruguay can do that, you ever hear donkey say ‘di worl nuh level?’ What a big state in the US can do and get away with, Jamaica can’t tek that chance, we are too vulnerable, we are too indebted, we are too open to the rest of the world and dependent on trade, aid and financing from international institutions.

“So whatever we do, we have to be extremely careful that we do it in a way that nobody can point fingers, or call for sanctions, or impose sanctions,” said Bunting.

He hailed Golding and his drafters for accomplishing a difficult balancing act “in a most brilliant way”.

Jamaica’s decriminalisation law will make the possession of small quantities of ganja, amounting to two ounces or less, a non-arrestable but ticketable infraction that will attract a fine payable outside of the court. There will be no criminal record as a result.

The legislation prohibits the smoking of ganja in public spaces, subject to specified exemptions.

The law will allow ganja to be used for therapeutic purposes, as prescribed by a registered practitioner; scientific research conducted by an accredited tertiary institution or otherwise approved by the Scientific Research Council; for religious purposes by Rastafarians who consider ganja a holy sacrament.

The law will make provisions for the creation of a Cannabis Licensing Authority to regulate the proposed hemp and medicinal ganja industry in Jamaica. That licensing authority remains a work in progress with much to be completed.

However, licensing will be absolutely crucial for those including farmers involved in the ganja sector. Golding made it clear at Treasure Beach that those choosing to remain in the informal, unregulated sector would continue to feel the full brunt of the law, since under the law ganja remains illegal.

“The idea is for this to be an inclusive system, and those who want to get licensed can get licensed as long as they are prepared to comply with standards that are required; and the idea is to set those standards or design the regulatory system in a way that they are able to come in if they wish,” Golding said.

“Those who don’t want to come in, if they continue to cultivate they will be in the same position they are now,” he added.

The law will actually allow householders to plant five ganja plants on their premises.

“Legislation will allow home growing of up to five plants within any premises per home. If you have a multi-family situation, each household will be treated as a separate premises,” explained Golding at Treasure Beach.

Beyond those five plants, those who farm ganja without being licensed to do so will be in breach of the law.

Golding was at pains to stress the Government’s commitment to “ensuring” that the rules for ganja production are as “inclusive as possible for small farmers”.

“We do not want to have an industry which is just dominated by a few big players whether local or overseas. The idea is for those who want to come into this thing having been in the shadows, and they want to come out of the shadows into the light, the system must be such that they can access and participate,” Golding said.

As outlined by Golding in mid-February, the “specifics” for ganja production would be developed by the cannabis licensing authority.

“The first order of business will be to develop that (licensing authority) and there are going to have to be consultation on the specifics with farmers and their stakeholders… the overriding requirement must be that the regulations must be compliant with international obligations. There will have to be some monitoring of production, there has to be reporting of volumes and the Government will have to play a role in that as well. But the overriding need for it to be internationally compliant, we believe, does not prevent it from being inclusive. The design is going to be very important in that regard,” he said.

Crystal clear at the forum in Treasure Beach were the many “grey areas”, the need for all concerned to be flexible, give and take, and crucially the need for education.

One participant from the floor complained of having attended a meeting where a man simply lit up a ganja spliff, as if not recognising he was breaking the law — confused perhaps by all the talk about decriminalisation.

“Is like having sex in public,” she complained, as her listeners rocked with laughter.

Ras Timothy from Pondside wanted to know how the police would determine two ounces of weed.

“They gwi travel with a scale to know if its two ounce or more… how that mi bredda?” asked Ras Timothy.

Bunting said that such considerations emphasised the need for “discretion” on the part of the police. Obviously, he said there would be need for scales at police stations, but also there was a vast difference between a small parcel and a “suitcase of weed, for example”.

Chairman of the St Elizabeth Planning Development Committee Jason Henzell emphasised the need for education. Many ganja farmers, he pointed out, were confused, even “petrified” about what was expected of them. “They don’t know what is coming,” said Henzell.

Pryce told the Sunday Observer he believed thought should be given to “establishing an amnesty” for ganja growers during a phase of educating the public ahead of a legitimate ganja industry in Jamaica.

He argued that for a prescribed a period after the law is passed “instead of arrest we should assess where people are and what they are doing, and how best to get them on board”.

During that period, he suggested, the destruction of ganja fields should cease. “Instead of eradicate we should educate,” Pryce argued.