It won’t help the Greek billionaire or any other billionaire but it will apply to citizens and especially rastafarians who use cannabis as a religious sacrament
The report reveals that ……..Adults in the dual-island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis will be able to legally use marijuana in the privacy of their homes within the next three months under a recent court decision overturning some of the country’s anti-drug laws.
The ruling, which also makes it legal for adults in the Rastafari religion to use marijuana for religious purposes, gives government officials 90 days to “remedy [these] constitutional defects.”
Eddy Ventose, a High Court judge on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, ruled that parts of the Drugs Act of 1986 regarding marijuana possession and cultivation infringed on citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of religion and privacy. Under the nation’s laws, cannabis is an illegal Schedule II substance.
Justice Ventose on Linked in @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddy-ventose-140b11122/
“The decision that the court makes today is not to be taken as undermining the State’s legitimate interest in the war on illegal and dangerous drugs,” Justice Ventose wrote in his May 3 judgment. “The constitutional issues in this case are narrow ones, and focus only on the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults for use in the Rastafari religion and also the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults in private for personal consumption. They do not touch or concern the issue of trafficking in cannabis, illegal drugs or other illegal activities.”
The change was spurred by a case involving Ras Sankofa Maccabbee, a Rastafarian who’d been practicing his religion for more than 23 years when he was arrested in 2012 on charges of possession of cannabis with intent to sell, as well as cultivation. He was sentenced to one month in prison and fined $5,000; however, he appealed his conviction and questioned the constitutionality of sections of the Drugs Act. Specifically, he argued that his right to “freedom of conscience, including freedom of thought and of religion” had been obstructed by the country’s anti-marijuana laws.
According to the court’s decision, “The Claimant states that he uses cannabis each day when he gives ‘praises’ to the ‘creator’ and that cannabis is a natural God given plant and is used to nourish the spiritual values of Rastafarians.” He also argued that “the use of cannabis is integral to his religious experience.”
Read the full report at https://www.marijuanamoment.net/st-kitts-and-nevis-court-rules-adults-can-legally-use-marijuana-in-private/
