On Wednesday, Antigua and Barbuda became the first country in the Caribbean to legalize the use of marijuana for religious purposes.
Three Rastafarian groups were granted authority by the Gaston Browne-led administration to use marijuana for the sacrament.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said he made the decision in keeping with his administration’s thrust to promote inclusiveness.
“No group of individuals, based on their economic standing, their belief or religious practices…should be marginalized in this country,” Browne said.
According to him, his government believes strongly in inclusivity and equality of opportunity and justice, “and certainly, as your prime minister, I will continue to champion those causes on behalf of our people not only here but in the wider region,” Browne stated.
Representatives of the Nyabinghi Theocracy Church Inc., RasFreeman Foundation for the Unification of Rastafari, and the Wan Love Chant, all signed on behalf of their faith.
Under the current regulations, in the twin-island nation, persons over age 18 are permitted to possess a maximum of 15 grams of cannabis, while no more than four cannabis plants can be grown in each household.
The government has admitted that the move to decriminalize the cultivation and use of marijuana for personal use could potentially contribute to the prevalence of substance abuse among the nation’s youth.
That admission followed word from the police that marijuana is one of the substances most abused by children in the country, and also a public condemnation of that reality by members of the public who believe it is evidence of a decaying society.
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Bud deal! White people & Syrian plus government powerhouse can sell it and make big money, but Rasta can just smoke it a call it sacrament!
Gaston Jah go punish you!
I want the weed that helps me forget my name. not the headache stuff
Who/what determines who is a Rastafari?
The government, Christian council, man/woman with locks, the ether of the Universe, police officer?
This is a bullshit law, it’s discriminatory and keeps the #BOOTS of the system on the necks of the poor, destitute and those living hand to mouth.
Again, make the plant(male & female) LEGAL and treat the Industry like the Sugar/Cotton Industries of the past tweaked to benefit all.
I never thought, that the Rastafari Movement(s) would be pimped and prostituted by the same system which have being abusing them for decades.
Ras Smood aka Jumbee_Picknee
De ‘ole Dutty Peg_Foot Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
Good point, so now the govt will have to define “Rasta” in order to apply this newly granted privilege. Rights should apply to all persons. When we allow them to stratify us and pit us against one another, we will lose. Poor Rasta is so grateful for the little breakthrough but something doesn’t small right to me.
@Good point Ras…Rastafari, of the #ether nor #matter can never be defined, It’s simply life’s #Energy in its transformative and translucent #STATE shows no relevance to #time nor #space, since, in each Moment of, in, through time and space, they’re one and the same, as in equilibrium/balance.
I, for one, got many of my conscious/unconscious vibes, through the manifestations of RASTAFARI, and fear is not one such thought. The #fear which many are exhibiting regards the laws of man/ HUEmanity would not exist, in the RASTAFARI communities, if the cohesive mechanisms which they claim to hold them together, really exists outside of their thought processes. MANIFESTATIONS of the transformation of energy have exist for one to exist, not as fodder nor parasitically!
Again, no HUEman policy can define what is the Past_Present_Future, as they exist in, at, through the same #Time and #Space, of the ether, that matter!
Ras Smood aka Jumbee_Picknee
De ‘ole Dutty Peg_Foot Bastard
Vere C. Edwards.
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