Bahamas: Marijuana for Medical-Religious Purposes

The Bahamas could be the fifth Latin American country to legalize the consumption of marijuana, after Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The set of laws that seek to make its legalization viable, aims at transcending the uses for medical and research purposes. The consumption of marijuana will also be allowed in small quantities in religious ceremonial contexts, and other cultural practices rooted in Bahamian culture.

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Cultivation licenses may be applied for as long as the production is destined for retail trade and the productive industries are national properties. In the case of research licenses, foreign companies and foreign capital may participate in investments, but they will have to be corporate with a 30 percent Bahamian participation.

The initiative has been called the Cannabis Bill, and it aims at not only decriminalizing and recognizing the non-controversial nature of personal consumption in small quantities for defined purposes, but also at promoting a controlled and efficient marijuana industry in the country.

The domestic market that decriminalization will create will generate business opportunities, job creation and a diversification of the pharmaceutical industry and agriculture in the Caribbean country. The authorities have been able to foresee these positive effects of decriminalization, and it is visible that this has also worked, as a further motivating factor for the political will that is projected in this direction.

"There are many Bahamians, some of whom suffer from illnesses such as terminal cancers and various forms of depression, who do not respond to clinical therapy and post-traumatic stress disorder," were some of the insights shared by Bahamas Minister of Health and Welfare Michael Darville.

From the moment decriminalization is approved, it will no longer be a serious crime to carry marijuana on one's person, as long as it is a small amount, less than 30 grams, and in this case the penalty will be a fine of 250 dollars, which will not imply a personal record for the person fined.

Although the news has caused a great stir among the population, scientists and the press in general, this is only an initial step in a long journey of successive approvals.

Public hearings have been scheduled for next month, where the most optimistic hope that if approved it could be before the beginning of 2024.

It will be the Rastafarians who will be able to request a license for religious purposes, which implies that they will be able to carry larger quantities of the crop as part of their group and community consumption. These practices will only constitute a crime if the consumption extends beyond the limits that have been recognized as a ceremonial or consumption space for marijuana.

In this sense, consumption for recreational purposes will be illegal, or if any decriminalized practice is carried out without a license or legal approval.

The decriminalization of marijuana consumption has been gradually spreading around the world. In the Caribbean area, several nations have decriminalized the consumption of marijuana, reaching more flexible cases such as Antigua, which legalized it for the general consumption of the population.